One if by Land, Two if by Sky
by Aerohead
Summary: Sequel to Entertaining Destiny A group of Shiz students find themselves in the middle of a coverup in Oz, and must find out what's going on before something bad happens. Though they must make sure not to kill each other, first. [COMPLETE]
1. Roommates

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: This is the sequel to "Entertaining Destiny", and as such, will not have a prominent appearance by Elphaba or Fiyero, where the former did. Also, this is based off of an RPG, and so more characters may be added, but as of now, the core characters are listed above. If you are part of the RPG, you will notice this is different, that is because it's in Fabala's perspective most of the time. Also, although you do not have to read Entertaining Destiny to read this, there's back-information that might be useful. 

Chapter One: Roommates

Miss Greyling looked nervous. Fabala wasn't sure why the frail woman looked so nervous, but she realized that it was probably because of the gross amount of Upperclassmen girls who were being separated from the rooms they had been in the years previous.

It was all Dorothy Gale's fault, really. She had decided that since Glinda the Good had reported "strange occurrences" in the Ugabu region, the students at Shiz should all be sanctioned off into groups of three. One dark hand on her chin, she studied the other girls idly.

They were from all walks of life – she was of a slightly higher breed then most, even she admitted it, but there were many working-class girls there, too – and it enthralled her to no end to see how the other half lived.

"Girls," said Miss Greyling, calling the girls to some semblance of order, "because of the...terror that is facing Oz, we must all work together to help Oz, and because of this Miss Dorothy came up with the idea to help us all become closer; instead of either having double rooms or the dormitories of fifteen, you will all be sectioned off into three-person groups and not everyone in your dorm will be your religion or ethnicity or social rank, so this will be a learning experience inside a learning institution!"

Fabala's mood darkened considerably at the thought of having to be roomed with someone she didn't know, but she ignored the feeling; instead, she fingered the delicate necklace Aran had given her.

"Miss Upland, Miss Malkin, and Miss...Thropp?" sung Miss Greyling. Fabala felt herself go hot. She was stuck in a dorm with Nissa Upland for the duration of her school-life at Shiz?

But the only thing that came out of her mouth was, "Not that Thropp family, Miss Greyling." Which of course was a lie, but Fabala wasn't going to let the rest of Oz in on that secret as too many people knew already.

Miss Greyling blinked at her, only just noticing the dark girl with the blue tattoos lining her body. "Right, right...anyway, of you go, girls." She shooed the girls out of the room, and with a sigh Fabala picked hers up.

"Fabala, wait!" She cringed at the voice. She hated that voice possibly more than she hated the person it belonged to.

She turned ever-so-slightly, only to see a familiar blonde head in the sea of women. "Fabala, oh thank Oz I caught up to you!" Nissa said, flinging herself on the very rigid Winkie. "I have too many bags, and seeing as you only have one, I thought you could help me carry them!"  
"Not for all the emeralds in the Glikkus." Came the indignant reply. A pair of sapphire eyes looked up at the darker girl, confused. Fabala let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't think you remember the last time we spoke, Miss Nissa, but I believe the last thing I told you is that I loathe you, and that assessment as yet to be lifted." Fabala's voice was deceptively calm and collected, and she looked down at Nissa coldly.

"But Fabala, I don't know anyone else here!"

"Destin." Said Fabala curtly.

Nissa laughed charmingly. "Oh, yes, but he's in Briscoe Hall, not Crage, and besides, he has is own things to deal with."

"Oh, fine!" Fabala groused, throwing her hands in the air. Nissa hugged her.

"Thank you! Here, now, take these bags and I'll take these!" The blonde said, bouncing as she picked up her four bags. Fabala shouldered her own bag and picked up Nissa's, before watching the blonde.

Nissa motioned Fabala to follow her, and the two walked out of the small meeting room and up a few flights of stairs, until they reached a small room that had a plaque with their names on it.

Nissa opened the door, and Fabala followed her inside blandly. The room was small and was lightly decorated in a pale peach wall color. On one wall was the door to the hallway along with three shelving units, while crammed together on the other wall were three beds, two of which were situated between a small, rickety looking window.

Fabala dumped Nissa's bags on the bed closest to the door before moving to the bed farthest away from the window and putting her bag down on it. She curled up on it like a cat and watched Nissa for her reaction.

"Shouldn't we wait for our roomie to get here before we go picking beds?" Nissa said.

Fabala glared, but not at Nissa. Her glare was aimed at the shotty workmanship that was prominently displayed as their storm window. "I am not sleeping near that." She said.

Nissa smirked demurely. "What? Scared that one of the boys could sneak into it and ravage us?" she asked, flopping down on her bed.

Fabala grimaced. "Not what I had in mind, but also a rather disturbing thought."

Nissa pouted. "I'd rather be near the wall than the door."

"Well, it's one or the other." Fabala said simply.

The two just sat there, glaring at each other, for a moment, when there was a knock on the door. Nissa instantly perked up, throwing her hair over her shoulder. "Let's hope that's our other roomie!"

"Oh, joy." Fabala said, dully picking at a stitch on the blanket.

Nissa flung the door opened, but then pouted. "Oh, it's just the Quadling boy." Fabala's eyes lit up, and she jumped off the bed and over to the door, pushing Nissa out of the way.

"ARAN!" she cried, hugging him. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Help me; I have the roomie from hell."

"Tell me about it." He sighed. She pulled away, blinking. "Destin's one of my roommates."

"Destin?" both girls asked. Two pairs of identical eyes fell on each other.

"How do you know Destin." Asked Nissa shortly.

"His father and he stayed with my family." Fabala said, shrugging. She grabbed Aran's arm and pulled him out of the room. "I'll be back soon. Let's just hope it doesn't rain." Fabala said to Aran as they left the building and started out onto Shiz's lawn.

"So, what's your Head like?" Aran said, derailing the attack on Nissa he knew was to eventually come from Fabala. Like mother like daughter.

"She's...different. Skittish, and rather scared." She shrugged. "And yours?"  
Aran mimicked her shrug. "He's a Gazelle, so he's different, but in different ways, you know? And he's rather strict." Fabala smiled, before pulling something out of her skirt's small pocket.

"What's your other roommate like, not Destin, but the other one?" Fabala asked.

Aran shrugged. "I'm not sure; all he really wanted to do when he got into our dorm was sleep. His name's...Noelani, I think. Yes, Noelani Lais; a Munchkin, from...Pine Barrens, I think he said."

"I see..." said Fabala. She played with the piece of paper in her hands, before realizing that she had it. She handed it to Aran. "Oh, what classes do you have?" she asked. "Together, I mean." He took the paper, and fished his own times table out, looking at them. They walked in silence for a few moments, before Aran looked at Fabala. He knew her all too well; she was ready to say something to him, she just had to be provoked. With a groan, he looked up at her, rubbing the scar on his cheek absently. "What is it?"

She was wound up, all right. "It's these city dwellers! The moment Miss Greyling called my name in roll she gave me an accusatory look, as if it's my fault I'm my mother's daughter! Nissa's just dying to use it against me, I know, and I'm sick of always being a scapegoat for that petulant girl. And why, why do we have to stay in rooms with three people to a room? What is so terrible; how can something bad be happening in Oz? Why can't we be told, instead of walking blindly and be allowed to believe half-truths, terribly spun lies and deceptions, and still believe in the Age of Wonder?"

Aran had been backing steadily away from the girl as she ranted, and she turned to him, anger still giving her brown skin a red tinge to it. "Are you done?"

Fabala sucked in a breath, before nodding. "Good. Now, stay there." He said. He looked around, making sure nothing had combusted, and let out the breath he had been holding. "Thank you for not setting anything on fire."

"I've never set anything on fire." Fabala said indignantly.

"Well, I don't want you to kill Nissa, annoying or not. Remember, last time you showed a great amount of emotion, you did that invisible-umbrella trick."

"Oh...right." Fabala coughed, mollified. She turned her attention to the long-forgotten times tables. "Well, do we...?"

"Fae, all freshmen have the same classes, in Briscoe Hall and otherwise." He smiled at her.

"I'm going to see if my other roomie's shown up yet." She pushed him gently. "Go make friends."

He laughed. "I should be saying the same to you." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he shook his head at the childish gesture. "I'll round up some of the guys on the same floor as me, and then I'll bring them to the small diner we went by early this morning, if you can get away?"  
Fabala smiled. "I'd love that, Aran. I'll see if Miss Malkin and Miss Upland want to go too. That means that if I'm bringing my nemesis, you have to bring yours; don't forget to ask Destin, too."

Aran made a face. "Fine, but I'm not going to be polite about it."

Fabala hugged him. "I wouldn't have it any other way." They parted and Fabala watched the darkening sky warily as she made her way up to Crage Hall. She slipped inside quickly, just as a thunderclap made the hall shake. With a small sound, Fabala ran up the stairs to her dormitory and pulled the door open.

Inside Nissa was putting her frilly, gaudy outfits away. On the center bed was a plump Munchkin holding a stuffed cat. Fabala smiled at her, curtseying respectfully. "You must be Miss Malkin?" She asked, moving to her side of the room. She started unpacking, also, with little more than a glare to Nissa. "I'm Fabala Thropp, of Red Windmill."

"A Winkie." Muttered Nissa.

"An Arjiki." Corrected Fabala.

The Munchkin smiled in Fabala's direction. "I'm Riley Malkin, as I'm guessing you've guessed. It's nice to meet you both." She looked between Fabala and Nissa. "I'm sorry you don't get along!" She said cheerily, her words mixed with light sarcasm. "Childhood rivals? Conflicting families? Anything I can do to help? We should probably be on speaking terms if we're going to be stuck together...although my opinion doesn't count for much." She shrugged and smiled again.

Fabala looked at the Munchkin, not sure what to do. She looked to Nissa, who was doing her best to ignore her. "We've met before."

"We're sisters." Nissa said stiffly.

"Half-sisters." Said Fabala, with a pointed look at Nissa as she put the little green bottle Glinda had given her onto a shelf. "Same father, different mothers. As you can see, Nissa's Glinda the Good's daughter, while I am not." She pointed from Nissa's blonde, wavy hair to her own dark brown, tight braid with a tattooed hand.

Nissa smiled blithely. "Yes, and just who is your mother, Faeba?" She asked, using one of Fabala's childhood nicknames that made the girl cringe.

"You know perfectly well who my mother is." Fabala huffed, before turning back to Riley. "We just learned of each other three years ago." She said, not pushing the matter further.

Aran sighed as he watched the sky and trudged slowly back toward Briscoe Hall. He wasn't watching where he was going, and walked into something rather...fluffy. He fell backward and was almost immediately assaulted by a soft hand pulling him up, and a concerned male voice. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

A red paw pulled him up and brushed him off. "Yes, yes, I'm...fine..." Aran blinked, taking in the Red Panda that was helping him up. "Thanks." He finished, backing away to get a better look at the tall Animal.

The Animal smiled, nodding. "Not a problem. The name's Ohanko, Kade Ohanko." Said the Animal, sticking out a paw.

"Aran Naeva." Said Aran, tentatively putting out a hand to shake with Kade. "It's a...pleasure meeting you."

Kade smiled as he withdrew his paw to fix his glasses. "No, no; pleasure's all mine, Aran. Are you in the new freshman class, too?"

"Uh...yeah." Said Aran, nodding.

"Great! So's my roommate, Sheika...though, that guy doesn't talk much, the quiet type, you know?"

"Sheika...that name sound's familiar..." Aran said to himself.

Kade shrugged. "The kid's Scrow, so that makes him from the Vinkus, right?"

Aran smiled. "Yeah, that'd be it; I've spent seven years in the Vinkus, and a friend of mine, Pfen, he's Scrow." Kade nodded.

"I'm from Munchkinland myself; raised, not born, there." He smiled. The two started walking toward Briscoe Hall in a comfortable silence, when Aran looked up at Kade nervously. "What's up? Besides me?" asked the Red Panda.

"I was just wondering if you'd like to supper at a diner with a friend of mine."

Kade shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do. Want me to see if Sheika'll come too?"

"That'd be great."

"So, what time?"  
"Seven?"  
"Seven, then. I'll see you later tonight, Aran." Kade waved as they reached the stairwell of Briscoe Hall and they split. Aran smiled as he made his way up the stairs.

"Taken my advice, yet, Aran?" Asked Destin as the boy reached the top of the stairs.

Aran scowled, his good mood ruined by the Gillikin. "No, and now I know that the next time you give me advice, I'll be sure not to take it."

"He's got you there, Dest." Noelani laughed, coming out into the hallway. Noelani and Destin were in the junior class of Shiz, and had known each other from previous encounters in class, though they had never been on the same social platform and had therefore never roomed together before. Aran liked the fact that the Munchkin's over exuberance and slight womanizing scared the very uptight Gillikin boy. It made him feel vindicated.

"Hey, Noelani, I'm going to go out to eat tonight, do you want to come?" asked Aran. Noelani lit up.

"That girl you told me about going to be there?" he asked. When Aran nodded, his smirk became Cheshire-like. "You know I'll be there, then."

Destin scowled. "Well?"

Aran's smile faded as he looked at Destin. "Fae asked you to come, not me. But you're invited."

Destin nodded, not showing any outward emotion. "Then I'll come." He said plainly, going back into the dormitory to put away his things. Aran and Noelani shared a grimace before following suit.


	2. The Man at the Bar

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: Thanks for the review! All I can say is that Kade's...Animal-ness, will be explained in due time. Remember "raised, not born, in Munchkinland." wink Also, as of now, this is only loosely following the RPG, with my ideas but now it's a total fanfic using the characters of the RPG. Note to self; never let mind wander. I'm really cranking tonight; don't expect part three to come out anytime soon, though. I'm going to Cape Cod for the weekend, then I'm going to Salem before an ugh recording session for a competition my dad's entering.

Chapter Two: The Man at the Bar

It had started to rain; no, pour, by the time seven o'clock came around. Fabala made a face as she looked out of the window. "What's wrong, Fabala? Don't like the rain?"

"What do you think?" Fabala asked, pulling her cloak closer to her body as they stood under a ledge outside of Briscoe Hall. If either Miss Greyling or Professor Timin – the boys' Head – came by and saw three freshmen girls standing there, they would have been in huge trouble. But as it was, the only person who happened to open the door to Briscoe Hall was Destin, who looked at them as if they were insane.

"Get in here; you'll catch your death in weather like this." As he said it, he glanced Fabala up and down. With a thankful smile at him, Fabala pushed past him and the door to get into the dry stone entry to the boys' college. Nissa and Riley followed quickly after her.

"Thanks Tin!" Nissa said, pulling her nearly-step-brother into a death grip.

"Chocking, not breathing..." Destin managed. Fabala hid her smirk in her cloak, while Riley watched.

"I think he wants you to let go now." She said.

"Oh..." She pulled away, smiling charmingly. "Sorry, Tin."

"Please...don't...call...me that..." Destin said, heaving for breath. Once he had finally revived himself, he looked down at his shirt, frowning. "Luckily I was going to get drenched anyway." He sighed.

"Hey, girls!" called Aran, waving from the top of the stairs. The girls looked up, and Riley blanched.

"A Quadling?" she said stiffly.

"Yes, my friend, Aran." Fabala said. She eyed the Munchkin hesitantly. She remembered her mother's warning about friends, and she didn't want more than one feud at a time going on in the dormitory. "Is that fine?"

"Just don't let him sit near me." Riley said.

"Got it." Said Fabala, a little put out.

They were silent for a few moments. Destin was leaning against the stone wall, and Fabala was fingering the wet fabric of her cloak with one gloved hand. Riley contented herself with getting most of the excess water off of her blue skirt, while Nissa paced, pouting as she checked the grandfather clock. "What's taking those boys so long?" she demanded.

It was then that there was a rumbling on the steps. Riley moved away from them, and the boys started down. Noelani was in the front of the heard, as he was the smallest of them, with Aran and Kade in front, and a rather reserved Winkie lagging behind in the group, not looking too pleased with the fact that he was forced into this outing.

"Hey, girls!" called Noelani as he reached the end of the stairs.

Destin grimaced. "Please, Noelani, not so loud. We're right here, after all."

Noelani smirked. "You suck all the fun out of life, Dest."

"You'd rather dance through life than do anything about it." Destin pointed out.

"Isn't Noelani a girl's name?" Riley asked.

The male Munchkin visibly blanched. "Yes, it is. My mother was so gung-ho about having a girl that she went into denial when she had me. Ah well, suits me, doesn't it?"

"I think it's a nice name." Nissa said. Noelani smiled.

"Thank you, Miss...?"

"Upland; I'm Nissa Upland, you may have heard of me?" Fabala and Aran both rolled their eyes in unison. Kade caught the act and snickered.

Noelani shrugged. "Upland, as in Her Goodness, right?"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Nissa, flipping her hair off of her shoulders and smiling.

"Oh, hey, this is Sheika, my roommate!" Kade said suddenly, pulling the male Winkie down the steps into the gathering.

"Hello, Miss Thropp." He said quietly, looking at Fabala, who blushed.

"How do you know me?" She asked. Destin sent her a quick 'isn't it obvious?' look, and Fabala blushed, though it was hidden by her hood. "Oh, right, that."

The group stayed quiet for a few moments, not knowing exactly how to take in each other. They were an odd group too; two Gillikinese, two Munchkins, two Winkies, a Quadling, and an Animal, all standing together, ready to either become a close-knit group of friends or a group of really bad enemies. None of them was sure what was about to happen.

The tension was cut by a growling sound, and Kade laughed slightly, rubbing his neck. "Anyone else hungry, or is it just me?" He asked. When everyone else nodded, he smiled. "Well then, lead the way, Master Quadling." He said, with a flourishing bow to Aran.

"Right, come on then, everyone." And the group trekked out, off the grounds of Shiz and to the small diner.

It wasn't exactly a diner; to be specific, it was a bar, but it was the cleanest eating establishment that was close to the University grounds. It was packed with upperclassmen. Many of them hailed Noelani, who smiled pleasantly and waved. "I can't believe some of these guys weren't expelled." He muttered out of the corner of his mouth to Destin, who chuckled.

"I know; Kiore, over there? I figured he'd be gone."

Noelani nodded, before grabbing a table for them to sit at. It was a rectangular table with four seats on either side. On one side sat Destin, Nissa, Noelani, and Riley, while on the other side Aran, Fabala, Kade, and Sheika sat.

An odd little man in his seventies looked over at the group, squinting at them, before he moved over to them. "Can I get anyone here something to drink?" He smiled kindly, looking at Nissa and Fabala especially. The two girls shared a look, before remembering their resentment for each other and looking away.

"I'll have some tea." Sheika said.

"Any type of ale." Said Noelani.

"Herbal tea, please." Said Aran politely.

"Anything sweet." Said Riley with a shrug.

"Ditto to the Munchkin in the blue dress." Said Kade.

"Do you have any goat milk by any chance?" asked Destin.

"Yes, we do." The old man said.

"I'll have that, then." The boy replied with a nod.

"I'll just have some mineral water." Nissa said, with a malicious smirk to Fabala, who had stripped out of her cloak and gloves with help from Aran and a clueless Kade.

Fabala sent Nissa a sour expression, before looking at the old man. "Nothing for me, thank you."

"Are you sure, Fae?" Aran whispered.

"Positive." She replied.

The old man smiled and left the table, weaving through the crowd to get to the bar.

"Don't you think he was a little odd?" Asked Riley.

"You mean because he's the only non-teacher or student who lives this close to Shiz?" Noelani asked.

"No...the way he stared at Miss Fabala and Miss Nissa." Said Sheika, noticing that everyone had turned to him. He shrugged, fingering the religious habit he wore. "It's just, he seemed to know them, or someone from their families, but how could that be if it's our first night here?"

"Drop the formalities, please, Sheika." Nissa said blithely. Sheika turned to Fabala, who shrugged.

"I never liked being called 'Miss', even at home." She said, making a face. "It sounds much too formal for who I am."

"A member of Arjiki royalty?" came Sheika's rather quiet reply. The table grew quiet, and Fabala put a hand up.

"I'm not a member of royalty; I'm the child of a long-dead man, how could I be?" Sheika sent Fabala a look that said 'you and I know different', but she ignored him.

"Fine, I'll drop the formalities, since no one seems to want them." Sheika said, shrugging.

"Hey, he's lightening up!" Kade said, waving his arms around. "Mark it on a calendar, people!"

"It won't last." Sheika promised as their drinks arrived.

The man put a bottle in front of Fabala. She looked up at him, curious. "I didn't want you to go without." He said, before leaving. Riley blinked.

"That was beyond strange."

Fabala poked the bottle. "It's a funny bottle." She said, noting its odd shape.

They chatted about topics that didn't have a point and other things as they drank; Fabala, however, watched the man at the counter, who was watching them. He looked...vaguely familiar. She had seen his face somewhere before, but she wasn't sure where. She didn't touch the bottle of liquid, she was too afraid that there could be some water in it.

It was closing time when they left. Noelani was perfectly sloshed, and had to be carried between Sheika and Destin to get him back to Briscoe Hall. "Great, and classes start tomorrow, too." Destin muttered under his breath. "How am I going to explain how my fellow classmate and roommate got drunk without saying I was out, too?"  
"Don't tell anyone?" Everyone turned to Kade. It had long since stopped raining, and they were taking more time to get back to their rooms than they had before. Aran was holding Fabala's cloak and gloves, and they were walking slightly apart from the group, talking about the mysterious old man at the bar. Everyone had stopped at Kade's suggestion, going to stare at the lone Animal in the student body. Kade shrugged. "What? All that will happen is that he'll wake up with a headache tomorrow morning. Probably a major headache, but it could be explained away as nerves due to classes starting."

Destin looked Kade over, before nodding to the Red Panda. "That's a...very good and reasonable deception, Kade."

"I know, isn't it? Remind me to use it when I get a hang-over." He laughed, elbowing Sheika.

"I won't let it happen." The Winkie said. Kade pouted.

"You're no fun!"

"You just figured that out?" Noelani said. He hiccupped, and withdrew his arm from around Sheika's neck, grabbing his mouth. "I'm going to be sick..." Destin pulled him over to the bushes, while the others stood in a small circle.

"We're almost back." Aran pointed out dumbly.

"Yeah..." Kade said wistfully.

"I think we should try to figure out what was up with that guy at the bar." Said Riley.

"How?" asked Sheika.

"We could go back sometime." Nissa said.

"I think we should find out why we're being forced into 'learning groups' for roomies." Fabala said suddenly. "I think we should figure out why Dorothy wants us to understand one another. What could be so bad in Oz that forces us to break with normalcy and become tied into small groups?"

"And what's been happening to Animals that return to the Emerald City." Kade said quietly. Sheika looked away, but put a quick, comforting hand on his roommate's arm. Destin had brought Noelani back to the group, and the boy looked slightly better.

"Well, I'm sure that's all well and good, but..." Nissa started, not wanting to get into anything that had to do with her mother's standing in society.

"But what? It's a good idea." Riley said.

They looked at each other for a moment, before Fabala put out a hand. Aran smiled and put his down on hers. Riley followed suit, followed by Destin. Noelani tried to pick his hand up, but was too weak to do so, so Sheika picked it up with his own. Kade smiled and put his paw down on top of all the other's hands. Everyone turned to Nissa. She fluttered for a few moments, pulling her hand close, then back. Finally, with a reserved huff, she put her hand down on Kade's paw.

The pact was sealed; they were stuck together whether they wanted it or not.


	3. On the Topic of Murder

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky

Author: Aerohead 

Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.  
Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: Quick apology at the beginning of this chapter for anyone who's only seen the play and doesn't know the book's story; I couldn't have Dr. Dillamond alive for this chapter, as much as I wanted to keep him alive. This goes with bookverse Dillamond, not playverse. Although he teaches both LS and History. shrug  
  
Chapter Three: On the Topic of Murder 

"Murder, in our society, is often either put down or placed on a pedestal. It's a very odd and a very old practice, dating back to the very beginnings, set down in the old lore of the _Oziad_. Some people believe that murder of any kind has no just cause, whereas others believe that just cause is a perfect reason for genocide or simple killings.

"But how about our leaders? Are our leaders abstained from this practice, or are they just as guilty as we are? Please, put your hands down until my speech is over. Thank you. Now, let us think objectively, here.

"Was Mr. Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmanuel Ambroise Diggs committing murder when his workers massacred almost all of the Quadlings in Ovvels and Qhorye? Please, please sit down, Master Naeva.

"Now, how many of you remember the Wonderful Wizard? Oh, that's correct, excuse me, I forgot that most of you weren't even born before Her Goodness took over the country. Now Oz, the Great and Terrible, was responsible for the construction of our great City of Emeralds along with the Yellow Brick Road. That was Mr. Diggs. If you knew that that was the Wizard of Oz, than would you believe he committed genocide or would you have cheered him on?

"Now, what about what happened when Miss Dorothy arrived? When her house accidentally fell on Miss Nessarose Thropp, was it pure bad luck, a 'twister of fate', or was it the happenings of some larger force? And the melting of Miss Elphaba Thropp? Did Miss Dorothy commit murder that day, or did she do our country a civic service, even before she became a citizen of Oz?

"I'd like all of you to think about these things, and talk amongst your groups, and then in about five minutes, we'll discuss what you think as a class."  
Professor Timin picked up a glass of water in his paw and took a sip, before stepping off the dais and walking over to his desk. It was their first History class, and during the first hour of the lecture, he had separated everyone into alphabetical groups, by family name. Fabala was forced to work with Nissa and Kade. She didn't mind working with Kade as much; he was smart and funny, even though sometimes he was rather dull at times.  
At the moment, however, he was worked up. "Why isn't he talking about the Animal Massacres when the Wizard was in charge? He's an Animal; he should bring this to the forefront." Kade fumed, pounding a paw furiously onto the desk.  
"He's not talking about the Animal Massacres because they're linked with the good The Wicked Witch of the West did for our society, and to talk about the good wickedness did would be a travesty." Fabala said, skimming through her history book. Her group was quiet, and she lifted up her head, one raised eyebrow in place. "What?"

Kade took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I never thought of it that way, but you're right, Fabala."  
Nissa nodded, though it was reluctant. "That's very true. It's something Mother should address." Fabala blinked at Nissa. She wasn't used to the girl being, well, nice. Glinda had always been nice to Fabala, but that came with the Glinda the Good persona, and to have her half-sister actually say something without having any sarcasm or hatred behind the words made her speechless.  
Kade cocked his head, looking at Fabala. "Fabala's just hard to say, you know. Do your parents or friends call you anything else?"  
"My parents call me Faeba, or Fabia, and sometimes simply Fabi. My friends don't call me anything." She shrugged, closing the book.

"Why not?" asked Nissa.

"I don't have any." Kade shook his head.

"Then what am I, a pet? Or the group's mascot or something?"

"I do hope we're talking about something worth merit here." Professor Timin had come up behind the group, and was looking down at them, looking rather displeased.

Kade nodded, holding out his notebook for the Gazelle to see. "We are, look. We've been talking about Animals and if their deaths by humans were considered to be murders or merely accidents."

Professor Timin sat down at an empty chair at the table. "Explain, Master Ohanko."

Kade blinked. "Explain, sir? I think one of the girls can do better than I can with that."

Professor Timin nodded. "Well, Miss Upland? Miss Thropp? Do either of you care to explain?"

Nissa looked down at her history book and started to flip through it, but Fabala looked up. "Well, it's like the death of a faculty member that occurred here." She said quietly.

Professor Timin gained interest then, and stood. "Class, Miss Thropp has just brought up a very interesting point about the murders in Oz." Everyone stopped. Aran, Riley, and Sheika looked over towards them from their group on the other side of the lecture hall. Fabala could feel her face burning. Sometimes she thought public speaking was worse than water. Professor Timin turned to her. "Well, Miss Thropp, please, continue with what we were discussing."

Fabala looked down at the open book so she didn't have to make eye contact with the rest of the class. "Well, about thirty years ago, there was a professor who taught here, Dr. Dillamond. He was a Goat, and he taught Life Sciences and History. Here, at Shiz. Anyway, he was on the verge of discovering something big. I think it was the reason why Animals existed, or something; it was meant to stop the ban on Animals, or something. But one night while he was working late, he was murdered. Some people say it wasn't a murder, but that he just fell asleep at his desk and fell on some equipment, but it doesn't add up when he was so close to discovering something that would rock Oz, and change the way people think."

Professor Timin stood next to her, looking at the other students. No one had said anything. "Well, any questions, class?"

One boy raised his hand. "But how do _you_ know all this. I've never heard of that story before, and I'm from Oz."

"My...my mother told her." Nissa said. Everyone turned to her. She blushed and dipped her head to hide the color behind her short curtain of blonde hair. Fabala turned slowly, one eyebrow raised, as she looked at the pale girl next to her. "My mother is a very dear friend of Fabala's family, and her caretaker was the one who saw the Goat's dead body." Nissa said, her blush becoming darker and running down her neck and into her hairline as she started to spin the lie. Fabala felt a little better that the daughter of a public figurehead had about as much luck at public speaking as she did, but the feeling left as she realized exactly what Nissa had just done.

And then she remembered the rest of the class. They were staring at them intently. "She's so good." Someone whispered.

Fabala sighed and shook her head. Let Nissa take the spotlight; she didn't care. She just wanted the attention on her to dissipate.

It was then that there was a knock on the door. "Enter." Called Professor Timin, as the door creaked open. Destin stood in the door, flushed and panting.

"Excuse me, Professor, but can I see Miss Thropp? It's of great import and...Faeba you won't believe this!" He heaved a sigh and looked at Professor Timin pleadingly.

Professor Timin waved a hoof in the air. "Go, Miss Thropp, but get tonight's assignment from one of your classmates; because you can leave does not exempt you from class work."

"Yes, sir." Said Fabala, nodding as she stood. She walked out of the room, and Destin closed the door behind them. "Well, what is it?" She asked.

"You'll see. Believe me." Destin said, grabbing Fabala's arm. Gently, he led her out of Three Queens, where now all the classes took place, and into the bright grounds of Shiz. He let go of her and started to walk in front of her towards Ozma Towers, which was now used only to lodge faculty members. Fabala followed behind, slightly confused. Destin pushed the doors to Ozma Towers open and Fabala walked in behind him into the dark halls of the Towers.

Destin walked toward Miss Greyling's study, where they could hear talking. Fabala was about to keep walking, but Destin turned and stopped her. "No, wait here. Believe me; this is going to be the shock of your life!"

"The shock of my life would be Thane or my aunt back from the dead." Snarked Fabala, crossing her arms. Destin rolled his eyes, before opening the door to Miss Greyling's study enough for him to slip through, before he closed it again. Fabala contented herself with looking at the pictures of former Headmistresses on the walls. There were many stately-looking old women, none of them seemed to be approving of the black girls standing in their presence, and at the very end of their mix there was a stately-looking Deer, who wore deep green robes around her dark brown fur. The plaque under her picture said 'Madame Frida Menek, First Headmistress of Crage Hall, Shiz University. A wonderful woman and friend to the children.'

Fabala had to smile at that. She wondered if her mother had ever stopped to look at these pictures when she was in school here. She knew her mother would appreciate the first Headmistress of Shiz as much as Fabala did. She thought about bringing Kade here, too; he would have loved to know that Animals weren't always looked at with as much disdain as he and Professor Timin endured.

"Wasn't she beautiful, Madame Menek? I wish I had been here when she taught." Someone said from behind her. The voice was familiar, but the familiarity that came with the voice – the sounds of movement behind her, the sound of twigs newly shifting – they didn't come with it anymore.

Fabala turned slowly, not sure about what she was going to see. Standing behind her was a stately man, about her mother's age, smiling down at her obvious surprise. "I told you; you wouldn't believe it when you saw it." Destin said.

Fabala just stood there for a few minutes, not sure exactly what to do; the rather feminine part of her was telling her to jump up and down and latch onto the man in front of her without intent of letting go, while the inherent Thropp part of her was telling her to make some sort of comment to get through her bewilderment. She settled with mere indifference, and blinked up at the man. "She...she did it?" She asked, curing the catch in her voice mentally.

Fiyero smiled. "Yes, she did. Isn't it amazing! I haven't felt like this in...well, seventeen years, give or take a few weeks, and now...I'm, well, human again!" He said the last part whispered, painfully aware that Miss Greyling was listening to the conversation.

She came out of the room and smiled sweetly at Fabala. "Isn't it wonderful, Miss Thropp? Oh, but why didn't you tell us you were a Tigalaar descendent, also? To think, a Winkie princess in our own student body! Oh, it's simply thrilling!" Fabala sent a quick glare over towards Fiyero, who was hiding his smirk. "Also, Miss Thropp, your father tells me you have a special...gift? An affinity towards sorcery, one would say. If you believe this talent should be worked upon, I will tutor you. I've already been asked by Miss Glinda to teach her own child sorcery, and as you two are roomies, it may be good to have you two work together."

"They're sisters also." Destin said. Miss Greyling turned to Destin, and then looked at a very uncomfortable Fiyero.

"Is this true, Master Tigalaar?" she asked pleasantly.

Fiyero nodded slowly. "Nissa is my daughter also."

What surprised everyone was that Miss Greyling merely clapped her hands and smiled. She didn't press the formerly-thought-to-be-dead Captain of the Gale Force and Winkie Prince for details; she just took the information in stride and beamed.

"This is wonderful!" She cried, clapping. "Simply marvelous; you two not only could work together, you could get to know each other, if you're truly sisters! Oh, and don't worry, Miss Thropp, you secret's safe with me!" She winked, and Fabala went pale. Well, as pale as she could go. "I never knew your mother, but I'm sure she's proud of you now! Oh, I can't wait to start a lesson plan; it's been two years since I had any good sorcery students!"

She went back into her room and closed the door, making Destin jump back from the doorframe and into Fiyero. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir."

Fiyero nodded, wincing. "One thing I didn't miss about being human was getting hurt." He muttered, making Fabala suppress a girlish giggle. Fiyero looked down at Destin and gave him a stern look. "Also, don't call me sir; you knew me as a Scarecrow and you were comfortable with that. So I want you to keep the comfort. And keep the formalities out." He turned to Fabala and knelt down in front of her. "I'm going to the Emerald City to find Glinda and tell her what happened. Next weekend is a long weekend, if you don't hear from your mother or me, come to the Emerald City and go to Glinda and make sure nothing happened. I may have led the Gale Force once, but they were ready to kill me for treason, and they probably would still like to finish the job." He kissed her forehead, then rubbed the pad of his thumb across the mark.

Fiyero left, and Fabala sighed. "We should get back to class." Destin whispered.

Fabala nodded mutely, before clasping Destin's hand and allowing him to bring her back to the now full campus of the University.

"Fabia! What's up? Why'd Destin call you out of class, you're not in trouble for anything, right?" asked Kade as he ran over to her, carrying her bag at his side. She took her bag from him and shook her head.

"I'm fine. Miss Greyling just wanted to talk to me about sorcery."

Aran, who had come up with the rest of their group behind Kade, raised an eyebrow. "You are going to take it, right?"

"I wouldn't want to be the only one in that class. Though if I did have to share it with you, I'd hope you'd understand that I'd surpass you quickly." Said Nissa.

"Of course you would, because you and Fabala are on two different starting points." Riley said sarcastically. The sarcasm was laced with sweetness, however, and Nissa missed it completely.

"Well, exactly!"

Kade pawed through his bag, before producing a syllabus. "Professor Timin wants us to read through this and sign it to make sure we understand that whatever we discuss in his class is to be fair and balanced, without any propaganda mixed into our theories." He said.

Fabala took it, nodding. The clock on Ozma Towers chimed eleven, and Kade put out his paw. "To Life Sciences?" he asked.


	4. Leaving

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.  
Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: You'll notice part of this chapter sounds familiar. A lot of Nissa/Fabala interaction will parallel a lot of Elphaba/Glinda interaction from _Wicked_ from here on out. Also, I'm not good with fluffy scenes – at least not in third person (the original story I'm writing's in first person) so don't expect any miracles. Also, the song in this chapter that Fabala sings is so not mine. I'd put that in the disclaimer section, but I usually just copy and paste the disclaimer, and I know myself; I'd forget it's there and not delete it after the fact. Anyway, it's "Let's Do It" by Cole Porter. Some people may know it as the song Alanis Moressette sings in "De-Lovely". I couldn't think of another song from the period the story takes place in, and even if it is Oz, I think some "outside" music would have been brought in by Dorothy. Oh, yes, the copyright...1928. It's not the whole song – it's too long. Just some of it.

Chapter Four: Leaving

It was a warm Saturday. Fabala hadn't gotten any word from either her mother or her father, and she had decided that she was leaving that night. She was packing the small bag she was going to bring with her, when Nissa came into the room. "Are you really going?" She asked.

"I'll be back in a few days; you won't even notice that I'm gone." Fabala said, not looking up from her suitcase. She didn't want to admit it, but Nissa was starting to grow on her. The girl had changed, if only a little. She could still be arrogant and self-centered, but there were times when Nissa was truly...good. That wasn't often, but there were times when a Nissa Fabala liked shown through that blonde exterior, and Fabala really wanted to meet that girl one day.

Nissa flopped onto Fabala's bed, watching the girl pack. "Hey, if we're really sisters, we should share something we've never told anyone else before!" Nissa said. Fabala looked down at the girl. "I'll go first: After I get out of school, I'm going to rule Oz, like my mother."

Fabala rolled her eyes. "Really? Your mother's already made the pronouncement and everything?"

Nissa rolled onto her back. "No, she hasn't asked me yet." She shrugged. "But she will eventually, just when I'm older, right?" Fabala didn't say anything; she just pushed a few things around in her bag. "Now you tell me one!" Nissa said, her patience wearing thin.

"Like what?" Fabala asked flatly.

"Like..." Nissa dove into Fabala's suitcase and retrieved the little green bottle. "Why do you always carry this dirty old thing around everywhere?"

Fabala dove for Nissa, but the girl vaulted off the bed and ran towards her side of the room. Fabala followed and stood at the foot of Riley's vacant bed. "Give that back!" She demanded.

Nissa pouted. "Come on, tell me? Tellmetellmetellme!" she begged. Fabala pounced onto Nissa, and they both tumbled onto the bed. Fabala tried to pry the bottle out of Nissa's hands, but the blonde held fast. Fabala pulled away, and sat down on Riley's bed, letting out a huff. "It was my grandmother's! That's all!"

Nissa stopped and sat up onto the bed. "Oh." She handed a now very quiet Fabala the bottle back, before moving to Riley's bed and sitting down next to the darker girl. "My mother used to have a really sweet nickname for me that no one else could use – Nissie – I wouldn't mind, you know, if you wanted to call me that." Nissa looked up to Fabala, who looked rather impassive. The girl stood and walked over to the suitcase again, carefully putting the bottle back where it had been. "And can I call you...Fabi?"  
Fabala closed her eyes, trying to keep herself from saying anything too rude. This was the Nissa she liked; the perky but sincere Nissa that only came out at certain times.

"Only if you promise me something." Said Fabala as she turned back to Nissa.

"What?"  
"That you stop trying to be above everyone when you're with other people. I like this you better than the you I see when we're out with the others. Don't think about what they think of you, think about how you feel when you treat a person nice than when you treat them with disdain." Fabala said.

"Deal." Said Nissa. "And, oh, Fabi, can I come with you? I don't want you to be hurt!" Fabala raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you heard? There's an uprising against Winkies, and I don't want you getting hurt."

Fabala nodded. "Pack your things then."

Nissa reached under her bed and pulled out a pink bag. "I already have!"

Fabala looked down at the girl. "You were planning this?"

Nissa blushed. "Well, no, but I heard about the uprising, and then about you leaving, and I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"Right." Said Fabala, grabbing her things, "because you care so much about me, right?"  
Nissa sighed. "Of course I care about you! You're my sister! You can be arrogant, heartless, and rude sometimes, but like you've said, I've seen another part of you! I've seen the real Fabala – the one who cares about Animal rights, the one whose best friends against all odds with a Quadling – and I like that about you." Nissa smiled. "See? You're not the only one who can make heart-felt speeches." She blinked. "Oh, but so the others don't know, I said we'd make an appearance at the singing competition tonight."

Fabala picked up her bag and turned to Nissa. "Fine, come on then." Nissa picked up her own bag and they made their way to the dining hall. They stashed their bags in a bush, and went in.

"Hey girls!" called Noelani, waving them over to a chair in front. They went over, zigzagging through the crowd, before stopping in front of the stage. There was no one on it, and Fabala looked at it curiously. "I know, no one's singing!" Noelani said, catching her gaze.

She hesitated for a moment. "I sing...a little. I know it's sad, but I know one of the songs that Miss Gale brought from that Kansas place to here."

Aran smiled at her. "You should do it." He said.

"Will you?" Kade asked.

Fabala was undecided at first, but finally she moved up to the microphone. "Um..." Public speaking; this was not good. Not good at all. She started to feel queasy. She looked over towards her friends, who sent her encouraging looks. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and concentrated on the picture in her mind. It was of her, Thane, and The Scarecrow sitting in the kitchen, listening to Mellesse go on about something or another. It was the song the old cook had taught Fabala as a child, and she just had to pull it out of memory...

"Birds do it, bees do it,

Even educated fleas do it.

Let's do it, let's fall in love.

In Spain the best upper sets do it

Lithuanians and Letts do it.

Let's do it, let's fall in love."

She opened her eyes and looked out at the others. She wasn't a great singer, although she was good. Aran smiled at her warmly, and she took a mental breath to calm herself.

"The Dutch in old Amersterdam do it

Not to mention the Fins.

Folks in Siam do it – think of Siamese twins.

Some Argentines without means do it

People say in Boston even beans do it,

Let's do it, let's fall in love.

Romantic sponges, they say, do it

Oysters down in Oyster Bay do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love."

Sheika inclined his head, to show his approval. Destin was grinning, and Kade was trying to start the room to chanting her name, though everyone else was ignoring him. Noelani hit the Red Panda's arm to shut him up, before turning back to Fabala on the stage. Everyone was listening now.

"Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it

Even lazy jellyfish do it,

Let's do it, let's fall in love.

Electric eels, I might add, do it

Though it shocks them I know

Why ask if shad do – waiter bring me

'Shad roe'

In shallow shoals English soles do it

Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love."

Fabala realized something as she sang, and that realization was sitting in front of her. She meant this song, even if it was just something Mellesse used to sing to her to keep her quiet when she was little. She meant every word of it, and it was all directed toward Aran.

"Dragonflies in the reeds do it

Sentimental centipedes do it,

Let's do it, let's fall in love.

Mosquitoes, heaven forbid, do it

So does every katydid do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love.

The most refined ladybugs do it

When a gentleman calls

Moths in your rugs do it,

What's the use of moth balls?

The locusts in the trees do it

Why, even the bees do it

Even over-educated fleas do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love.

Let's do it, let's fall in love."

Fabala took a breath as she finished. It was quiet for a few moments. Then, Kade jumped onto his feet, and started clapping wildly. Destin, Aran, and Noelani joined in soon afterwards, and then Sheika, Nissa, Riley, and the rest of the room did. Fabala blushed, before walking off the stage.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't leave without Aran knowing. Or he could come too. She shook her head – him coming was out of the question. Something could happen, and she didn't want him to get hurt...like Nissa had said.

The evening progressed, and finally Nissa and Fabala slipped out. Before they did, though, Fabala pulled Aran out of the room and onto the grounds. "I'm leaving tonight." She said.

"Where are you going?" He asked. She looked down.

"I have to make sure something didn't happen to someone I love." He looked dejected, and she smiled lightly. "I'll be back by Monday, I promise, but I need to make sure everything's all right. Nissa's coming with me, so I'll be fine."

Aran laughed. "Nissa's coming with you and you say you'll be fine?"

"Trust me." She said, kissing him gently. He blinked, but didn't pull away. She broke the kiss quickly, blushing, before turning to Nissa, who was pointedly ignoring them. "Are you ready?" She asked. Nissa nodded.

"We'll take the train, it's faster and safer." She said. Fabala nodded, before turning back to Aran.

"I'll be back soon. Make sure nothing happens while we're gone!" She called, before taking her bag from Nissa and following the blonde down the slope towards the train station.


	5. To Oz

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: School starts officially in a week. dies Besides that, nothing's really of import in this chapter. For those of you who read Entertaining Destiny, when Glinda was with Elphaba, Nissa was being taken care of by Dorothy, Ozma, and the Tinman. That should explain her reactions to them. And Fabala's reaction to the Emerald City is my first reaction to NYC when I was fourteen. Oh yes, no one forget – Dorothy rules Eastern Oz in this story – i.e. Munchkinland – and, eh, I hope no one likes her too much. Sorry if you do; I suggest not reading if you do. No, I don't like Boq that much, either, but...he's kind of nice in this story shrug Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and please, keep it up. I love to hear your thoughts, and opinions about the story.

Chapter Five: To Oz

The train slowed, and then stopped outright. The two girls got off the train and Nissa pulled Fabala down out of the train station into the bustling city. When they first entered the city, Fabala had to stop and let her eyes adjust to the bright emerald color bouncing off of everything, from the tiniest street stall to the tallest minaret.

"Come on! If you want to find what you're looking for, you have to start where you're safe, right?" Nissa said. She smiled as she watched the other girl's reaction to the city. "Have you ever seen anything like it before?" she asked.

"No...nothing like it, at all." Fabala said quietly. She turned to the blonde, who smiled kindly, before grabbing the dark girl's arm and pulling her toward the center of the City.

They walked slowly so that they didn't look suspicious. Many people moved out of the way to let the daughter of Glinda the Good through, though most moved away from Fabala. The girl's brows knitted.

"I told you they didn't trust Winkies anymore, not since the secession." Nissa whispered. "But I think it has more to do with the closing of the trails to the Ugabu region and the subsequent closure of the Quadling slave trade than anything else. A lot of people are disenchanted by Mother now because she supports what your mother's doing."

"That's...just wrong." Fabala said vehemently. Nissa eyed her curiously. "Just because a public figure's doing something right instead of doing what the people want isn't a basis for hatred."

"It depends on what the subject is, though." Nissa pointed out. "There's more, though. Other things about Oz you should probably know, but..."

"Nissa?" called someone in the crowds. Nissa cut herself off, turning around quickly. "Nissa, what are you doing here?" Fabala looked around the crowd, also, and caught who was calling Nissa's name. It was a young woman, in her late twenties, with long brown hair pulled back neatly in a bun much in the way her mother had described her aunt's hair. The woman wore a pretty deep purple dress; it lay flat at her legs, not like any of Glinda's ball gowns that she wore.

Nissa bobbed her head quickly, a small smile etched across her lips. Fabala knew better, though. Not only had she been the blonde's roommate for the past week, but she had also had the displeasure of getting into a fight with her the year previous. Needless to say, she could tell when Nissa was wearing a fake smile. And what she had on now was definitely a fake smile.

"Hello, Dorothy!" Nissa said, hugging the young woman.

Dorothy Gale pursed her lips, looking at Nissa admonishingly. "Nissa Upland! You're supposed to be at Shiz. Don't tell me they've already kicked you out." There was sisterly teasing in the tone, but Fabala caught the hint of disapproval in the young woman's gaze.

Nissa grabbed Fabala's arm. "This is my roomie, Fabala...Tigalaar." Fabala raised an eyebrow at her father's surname. Nissa turned, a pleading look passing her features, before the smile returned and she was looking at Dorothy. "She's never seen the Emerald City, and since we have a long weekend and not a lot of study work, I thought it would be good for her to see it."

"Hello, Miss Gale." Fabala said, dipping into a short, and somewhat stunted, curtsey. Mentally she was berating herself for being so close to her mother's supposed-killer and being subservient, but she had no choice if she wanted to stay out of trouble.

Dorothy smiled at Fabala kindly, though it was a little strained. "Hello, Miss Tigalaar, was it?"

"Yes, Miss."

Dorothy turned back to Nissa, frowning. "Well, we should get to you mother, shouldn't we?"

She motioned for the girls to follow her, and they did so. They wound through towards what used to be the Wizard's Palace, and Dorothy opened the door and held it for the two girls to walk through. Nissa left the bags at the door, but Fabala picked hers up. She held it close to her as she followed Nissa up the stairs of the castle, feeling self-conscience. Head down, she went up the stairs with Nissa, almost ten paces behind.

As she reached the landing, she tripped, and her bag went flying, items falling out. "The bottle!" she called.

Nissa jumped, and grabbed the bottle out of the air. "Got it!" she called. Fabala scrambled around, trying to grab her things. She searched her bag, then looked frantically around.

"Where is it?" She whispered to herself. A book was put in front of her.

"Are you looking for this?" She looked up at the man holding the book out for her. He was tin, from head to toe. She smiled lightly, taking the book, and stuffing it into her bag. A tin hand was held out for her, and she looked up, taking it thankfully. "Are you okay; you took a bad spill off of that last step?"

Fabala nodded, blushing at her own clumsiness. "I'm fine, thank you." Nissa smiled, and latched onto the Tinman.

"Hi!" She said cheerily. He chuckled, pulling her off of him lightly.

"Hello, Miss Nissa."

"Where's Mother?" she asked, cocking her head lightly.

"She's in her study, reading."

Fabala refrained from commenting, though she wanted to; she really wanted to. Nissa nodded and waved goodbye to the Tinman and Dorothy, before pulling Fabala along. "What was that book you have?" Nissa asked.

"It's nothing, really." Fabala said, pulling the bag closer to herself.

Nissa frowned. "It wasn't nothing; I saw the look on the Tinman's face. That's no ordinary book, and I know it!"

"Well, it was my mother's," Fabala hissed, not wanting to get caught, "since he _is_ the Tinman and he _was_ there when my mother quote-unquote melted, then he probably saw it then and recognized it!"

Nissa pouted, but was mollified. She turned and flounced down the hallway, knocking on the last door on the right. She knocked twice, and smiled cheerily as she was given permission to enter.

Glinda looked up from the documents she was reading through, and brushed a hand neatly through her short curls. "Nissa? What are you doing here?" The woman stood, pale pink hoop skirt billowing as she did, and moved over towards her daughter. "What's wrong?"

"Miss Glinda, have you seen my father?" Fabala asked bluntly. Glinda turned from her daughter to Fabala, and then back, her blonde brows knit in confusion.

"You came here...together?" She asked.

Fabala sighed, exasperated. "Why is that the reaction we get from everyone? Yes!" She winced when she saw the blonde woman's face fall. "I'm sorry, Miss Glinda, I'm just worried. My father said he was coming here to talk to you, and if I didn't hear from him or my mother by yesterday, I should come to the Emerald City and find you. So, have you seen him?"

Glinda straightened and went over to Fabala. The girl hadn't expected the hug that the woman gave her, and she certainly wasn't expecting the tears. Fabala started to panic. "Miss...Miss Glinda? Um...Please, don't cry. _Really_." Said Fabala, sucking in a breath as a stinging tear hit her bare neck. "Please, let go. What's wrong? Maybe...maybe if you let go, I could help?"

Nissa caught on immediately, and touched her mother's shoulder. "Mother, you're hurting her."

Glinda blinked, letting go of Fabala. She looked at the small but angry red mark on the girl's neck, and instantly the tears dried up and she worried over the reaction. "I'm sorry, Fabala dear, it's just...yes, yes I did see your father, and...I thank Oz that he's alive. But he left two days ago; he wouldn't be back in the Vinkus yet, but he could have sent word to you from the Emerald City."

"Oh...thank you, Glinda." Fabala said, slightly dejected. She moved out of the study and into the hallway, sinking to the ground as she did.

"They're not as bad as you think they are!" Said a voice from someplace a few doors down. Fabala cocked her head, before moving toward the voice. She sat down next to an ajar door, listening.

"They're all alike, Ozma. Why do you think they seceded? Didn't you happen to notice that they did so on the day she died?"

"You mean the anniversary of the day you killed her?" Ozma retorted. Fabala felt a cruel smile tugging at her lips, before she quelled it by frowning. The younger members of the triumvirate were fighting like this, and the one holding them together – Glinda – was now getting bad publicity. Something was wrong, very wrong.

Ozma had said something to Dorothy that Fabala had missed, but she heard the reply loud and clear. "I couldn't just let them walk around here, it's unnatural. And that...that _Winkie_, well, he wanted to help them! You understand, don't you?"

Fabala stood shakily. Nissa was next to her instantly. "What is it? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Air...I need air...I need to think..." She started to worry the skin next to her thumbnail, and only snapped out of her train of thought when Nissa touched her shoulder.

"Come with me, I know a place you can think and get some air." She said, smiling reassuringly. Fabala nodded mutely, and followed Nissa up a few sets of winding stairs until they reached an attic. "You sit down and think, I'll open the window."

"All right." said Fabala, moving to find a place to sit. She sighed and pulled her braid out, redoing it.

"What did you hear that got you so worked up?" Nissa asked, unlatching the windows.

Fabala let out a hiss of air, pushing a burnt broom out of the way. "I don't know, it was a conversation between Dorothy and Ozma...Dorothy said something about Animals, I think, and why they're disappearing, and something about a Winkie. She probably meant me."

Nissa huffed. "Not everything's about you, you know."

"That's ironic coming from you." Fabala said lightly, tracing her finger in the old soot from the burnt wood of the broom. She looked at the black soot next to her skin, wrinkling her nose when she realized it was almost the same color.

"Fabi?" said Nissa, nervously.

"What?" asked Fabala, turning. Her eyes widened at what she saw. Nissa had tripped on the bay windows, and was falling out of the window. "Nissa?" called Fabala, running to the window. Instinct took over, and she felt something in her hand, she hoisted her bag over her shoulder, and praying to all the gods she didn't believe in, she dove out the window after Nissa.

When she reached Nissa, she pulled her over onto whatever Fabala had grabbed. "Oh thank Oz!" Nissa cried, wrapping her arms around Fabala and burying her face in her half-sister's chest.

"Nissa, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the ground's coming up fast..." Fabala said.

Nissa looked up, eyes wide with shock. "You don't know how to fly this thing?"  
"What thing?" Fabala ground out.

Nissa's mouth hung open. "The broom you grabbed!"

"I didn't..." She cut herself off, looking down. She really was on the burnt broom she had found in the attic. She grabbed hold of the end of the broom and pulled it out of the nosedive. They lurched forward and started going straight up again. Fabala pulled on the handle again, and finally managed to get the broom to even out. The two girls looked at each other, and Nissa started shaking and held onto Fabala for dear life.

"Sweet Oz, I thought we were going to die." She looked up. "You saved my life." Realization swam into deep sapphire eyes, and she latched onto Fabala's middle. "No one's ever done anything like that for me before! Thank you!"

"You're...welcome?" Fabala said hesitantly.

"You two, get in here, now!" Came a call from the window a few hundred feet below them. Fabala lowered the broom until she was even with the Tinman, who was leaning out of the window, looking wild eyed and worried. "You should get back to school; that stunt of yours was luckily not seen by anyone, but if they had seen it, they'd be talking. The broom, the book, and...what's your name?" The Tinman had moved away from the window to allow the girls to enter the Palace.

"Fabala, sir." She said, bowing curtly. Gray eyes looked her up and down, before a tin hand reached out.

"Fabala, give me the broom."

Fabala looked at the burnt thing. "Why?" she asked.

The Tinman looked at her; he looked tired. "Please give me the broom? If anyone sees you with it, they'll come to correct conclusions. I don't want you or Nissa getting hurt."

Fabala gave him the broom hesitantly, and then she jumped away. "Why do you care about me?"

The Tinman shrugged, clanking as he did. "Because Glinda does." He said. He smiled. "And if Glinda trusts you, and Nissa trusts you, so do I. But not everyone trusts Glinda anymore. Please, go back to Shiz; go back to safety. Something's wrong, Dorothy and Ozma are fighting, and they've never done that before, everything's falling apart, please, just go to where it's safe and structured. You came here looking for your father, the Winkie prince Fiyero if I'm correct, right?" Fabala nodded. "Miss Glinda has a small fleet of the Wicked Witch's flying monkeys still at her service. I'll have one go with you, and it can be your messenger. I know I saw Fiyero leave, and if having you get a message to him will appease you, I'll allow you that."

He looked so sincere and so worried that Fabala conceded. The Tinman nodded to himself, before leaving. The two girls waited, and he came back sans the broom, but with a monkey. "This is Valen. She's one of the younger monkeys; she was born with wings. Please, go now, before Dorothy and Ozma get out of their conference." Valen let go of the Tinman and went over and stood behind Nissa, hugging the girl's leg. Fabala smiled at the monkey. "Send a message to me, also, to make sure you're father's safe." The Tinman said, as they left.

Walking with the monkey between them, Fabala and Nissa made their way back to the train station to go back to Shiz. As they walked, Fabala formed a plan. The first part of her plan was to find a broom in the supply closet at Shiz. The second part involved finding an old grammar manual and begging time off of Kade.


	6. The Talk

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone's who's reviewed so far, and thanks to everyone who's read this story; if you've read and haven't reviewed yet, please do, I'd love to hear from you and know what you think! Anyway, happy reading and thank you again! Mostly talk in this chapter, sorry. But I really wanted a cute little conversation between Kade and, well, anyone. So, here it is. Teehee. A warning though, in this chapter, there is talk of homosexual relationships. If you don't like, you can skip this chapter. If not, enjoy.

Chapter Six: The Talk

One of Professor Timin's assignments for the weekend was to sit in a quiet space and meditate on one of the numerous deaths that had occurred in the past thirty years. Then, afterwards, they had to write a paper on what they had seen.

That was all well and good, but finding someplace quiet in a University was almost impossible. The libraries, although a place of sanctuary, were completely out of the question – most people went into the Crage Hall library to gossip, and girls were not permitted in the Briscoe Hall library. And getting into your dormitory without roommates was almost as absurd.

Unless, of course, you were in there in the middle of the day when everyone else was at lunch. Riley liked the school lunches because she could knick scraps and make her own treats later on, and Nissa loved going to lunch to visit with fellow Gillikinese to gossip and chatter away about nothing.

So there she was, eyes closed, sitting with her right legs tucked neatly under her and her left leg laid out and slightly bent so the old wound wouldn't force her knee to buckle. It was a hot day, and she wore a sleeveless white top and a skirt that came to slightly below her knees, to hide the scarring. It allowed a better look at her dark skin, and the blue tattoos that laced up her neck, down her shoulders, under the top, down her arms, and up her legs. Her hair was out of its normal uniform braid, and the curly dark hair hung onto her back, all the way down to her waist. She looked ethereal, almost like a statue of St. Aelphaba, though there was no one to comment on this strange beauty.

_Concentrate_. She ordered herself, keeping her eyes firmly closed. She had to imagine the person; have the experience be as first person as it could. She wasn't sure she could imagine someone she had never met, but she went by her mother's descriptions.

She had been a small woman, with a slightly severe face. She had chestnut hair...or had it been auburn? It was hair that, after childhood years had ended and reality had begun, had been pulled back into a tight, dictator-like style; a bun, hadn't it been? Yes, much like Dorothy's had been that fateful Sunday. She had...brown eyes, weren't they? Dark, like her mother's, but...not quite so. Lighter, yes, she remembered being told that they had been lighter. And her skin...her skin was pale. She had been called tragically beautiful. She really was tragic, perhaps, but only those who knew her well could say if she was beautiful or not.

What had it been like that day? Windy, no doubt. But was it nice? Possibly. Yes, a nice, but windy day. Nothing to be alarmed about. She had been able to walk - "there's an enchantment on those shoes", wasn't that what the girl had been told? – and she may have been taking a walk outside. A nice, cool day to take a walk.

And then the sky darkened, possibly. Or, did it get brighter before a tornado? No, it must have gotten darker, because everyone had run for cover. She should have too, but why hadn't she? Did pride get in the way? No. She had been in a wheelchair most of her life, hadn't she? She probably wasn't used to _running_ for cover, and the muscles in her legs had refused to let her go; let her run.

And there had been nowhere else to go, had there? None of the Munchkins would have let her in – she was a dictator, and she had taken away their rights, getting caught in a storm would do her good. Had they known that she was going to die that day, would they have giving her amnesty in their homes? She had run to the fields, probably to escape the raging winds in the vacant streets. If it was dark, she wouldn't have noticed the shadow looming over her. But she probably had, since she had been facing the village in the end. At that was the end, because as she turned to look back at the village, a farmhouse, a wood structure approximately seven times her weight on one side, came crashing down...

...and something did come crashing down, too. Right onto the bed. Fabala's eyes popped open, and she jumped a foot.

"Calm down there, Fabala. Whoa, easy there, it's just me...nothing to be alarmed about...well, there _could_ be something to be alarmed about, but that's on my side of this, remember? You wanted to talk with me, didn't you? I didn't see you at lunch so I figured you'd be here."

Kade had sat down on Fabala's bed. The girl coughed and sputtered, trying to regain her composure. Kade found the scene quite hilarious, but he didn't do anything. He rightly feared the wrath of a female, and he knew Fabala was a new sorcery student. He didn't want to risk it.

"Never do that to me again!" Fabala said.

"Note taken; I didn't know you were...what? You weren't actually meditating, were you?" He grabbed his tail absently and started playing with the black ends on the fur there, already chastised by his own imagination.

Fabala shook her head, moving closer to him. "No, I wasn't. I was doing that assignment for History, and..."

"And what, did a house fall on you in your imagination?" Kade asked. At Fabala's grimace, he winced. "Oh, one did. Sorry, I really didn't mean to interrupt. I can go, if you want..."

"No!" Fabala grabbed Kade's arm, before rolling over so she could reach under her pillow. She pulled a child's grammar book out from between the two pillows, and showed it to Kade.

Kade looked at the book, clearly puzzled. "This...eh, Fabia? I know how to read, I know you may not believe that, but it's true."

Fabala rolled her eyes and pulled herself back up. She stood and rotated her leg until her knee popped back into place. "It's not for you, Kade. It's to teach the monkey how to speak."

Kade just looked at her. "We're going to teach a monkey how to speak? If it's an animal, it probably won't learn language; if it's an Animal, it should already know it."

Fabala nodded, but cocked her head, letting her hair fall over her arm. "But, if an Animal is not taught to speak, and is either preverbal or has never been allowed around speaking creatures, how do we know if it has Life or simply life?"

Kade smirked. "Oooh, good question." He said, grabbing one of Fabala's pillows and clutching it to his chest. He looked down at it, then at Fabala. "Um. You don't mind getting fur on your pillow, do you?" he said sheepishly.

She shook her head. "Of course I don't mind; I have a cat at home." She quirked an eyebrow, looking at Kade. "You know, you're not quite like anyone I've ever met."

Kade nodded. "I get that a lot." He looked around the room. "So, where's this animal-slash-Animal or yours?"

Fabala blushed. "She's not here right now; her name's Valen and please don't freak out, but she's one of my...the...Wicked Witch's flying monkey's."

Kade raised an eyebrow. "Why would I freak out about that? A creature's just another creature. Just because of where it came from doesn't make it good or bad."

"But people – and Animals, don't give me that look – all have preconceived notions about others due to where they come from."

Kade nodded. "True, very true."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Kade flicking through the grammar book Fabala had shown him. Finally, Fabala got up her nerve, and looked at Kade. "How do you know if you...really love somebody?" She asked him quietly.

Kade looked up at her, and his tail swished idly. "Huh? Uh, how do you mean?" He asked, grabbing his tail to stop it from swishing. He played with it again, tugging at the dark follicles.

Fabala shrugged. "I mean, if someone liked someone else, how could they know if they really only liked them as a friend, or as something more?"

Kade made a noise as he involuntarily pulled a piece of hair out of his tail. "I don't know." He said shortly. He looked down at his wounded tail for a few moments, before looking up at Fabala worriedly. "You...aren't talking about me, are you? Because, well, I mean, I like you and all, Fabala, but...you're not my type. And it's not just because you're human, either. Mostly, it's because you're...well...not male."

Fabala stared at him for a few minutes, her brain not processing what Kade had just told her. Then, she smirked. The smirk became a smile, and then she started to laugh. Kade twirled the fur on the top of his tail around one digit of his paw, clearly embarrassed, but Fabala touched his arm, shaking her head. "No, no...I wasn't talking about you, Kade. I like you, but more as a friend and, well, to tell you the truth, you do get great gossip – don't you dare tell Nissa I said that – but I was talking about, well, Aran."

Kade looked relieved, and then promptly straightened, smiling. "Oh, _Aran_! That poor boy, we were studying – me, him, and Sheika – in my and Sheika's dormitory, and Riley came in and asked where you and Nissa were – this was Saturday night, and of course Aran's the only one you really ever talk to so she had every right to barge in and ask us, but she really should have knocked first, you know – and poor Aran, at the mention of your name, he turned bright red!" He smiled. "It was adorable!"

Fabala blinked, mouth hanging open in shock. "Really, he reacted like that...about me?"

Kade laughed. "Fabia, where have you been? You've known the boy for, what, seven years? The boy practically follows you like a, well, a pet. And he's overprotective. Have you seen the looks he gives that Nokomyu boy whenever you talk to him; I mean he's going to be your half-sister's step-brother anyway, but he is kind of cute in an 'I'm a rich snob' sort of way."

Fabala smiled and hugged Kade. The grammar book fell to the ground with a soft thud, and Kade had a hard time getting his tail out from between himself and Fabala. After that, though, he hugged her back. When she pulled away, he looked at her curiously. "What was that for?"

"For telling me what I needed to know!" she said.

"So, why did you go to the Emerald City?" Kade asked as Fabala reached for the door. She turned, and went to her small nightstand, grabbing the strands of rawhide. He watched her, and shook his head. "No, keep it down."

"But it's a hundred degrees out there." She complained. Kade gave her a pointed look, and she blushed. "Oh, right. Sorry." She put the pieces of rawhide down and picked up a comb, brushing out her hair. "I went to make sure my father was all right."

"And?" prompted Kade.

"Well, he wasn't there, and that's why the Tinman gave me Valen, but I got a letter from my mother last night via coach that my father had just made it home; he had to go through a longer route to get into the Vinkus, because of the Gale Force." She sighed. "Thank Oz."

Kade looked at her. "You know, I've never understood that phrase. Thank Oz for what? If you're talking about the Wizard, you're thanking him for destruction of thousands and their homes; if you're talking about our country, why must we thank ourselves?"

Fabala shrugged. "I only say it because I have no one else to thank; no god's shown their face into my life. If there was a god, it would have intervened when my brother was shot point-blank and killed by the Gale Force. All because he was gre...different."

Kade smirked. "He was green, wasn't he?"

"How did you..."

"Fabia, I'm not as stupid as I look. A Thropp, from the Vinkus, who's worried about the rights of Animals? That sounds vaguely familiar, and it came in a different colored package. If you're not the product of your family, then Nissa's definitely not the next Good Witch of the North."

"Oh, so are you saying I'm the next Wicked Witch of the West?" Fabala demanded.

Kade shook his head. "No. You're the next Good Witch of the West; it's just going to take the rest of Oz a hell of a lot longer than me to realize it." He shooed her away and began to cross to the door himself. "Now go find that boy of yours and at least talk with him. You two deserve each other, and I'm not going to play matchmaker."


	7. Levitation 101

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: I was looking through my site, and I am adding a soundtrack section. I have image songs up and the RPG/story's theme song, and I may add an individual theme for each chapter. Tell me what you think. Anyway, the link is from geocities. So, after putting in geocities, but /wickedoibltibs/soundtrack, then dot htm. And the randomness of the way I did that is because when I edited the notes on , they didn't let me put the URL, so I found a loophole. The spell Fabala uses is the levitation spell from the play, in case anyone was wondering. Oh, and I brought Shell into this, don't ask me why, I just thought Fabala needed _some_ family alive.

Chapter Seven: Levitation 101

A week had passed, and Fabala and Kade had been working in secret on Valen for about as long. She had other plans, though. And they consisted of a certain book.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Aran as he walked along beside her.

"I'm positive." Fabala answered. Together, the were making their way to a small bazaar set up a little farther off from the Emerald City than Shiz was. They had walked a long way, and were finally on the Yellow Brick Road, when the old man from the bar came into view. He seemed to be waiting for something.

Or someone.

"That's the man from the bar." Fabala whispered. She grabbed Aran's hand and slowed him down. She also moved slightly behind him. On Kade's encouragement and Nissa's constant badgering, she had finally pulled her hair into an odd loop, which seemed to fit her more than the braid, though now she really wanted her braid back. She pulled her hair down and started to rebraid it, when the old man stepped out in front of them

"Hello there, children." He said amiably.

"We're not children." Aran said, walking away from the man.

"Aran, wait." whispered Fabala, touching Aran's arm lightly. He turned to her, slightly confused. She let go of his wrist, before turning to the old man. "What do you want?" She asked, chin set.

The old man put up his hands in surrender. "I only want a moment of your time. You look familiar, that's all. I've thought so since I saw you with your friends last week."

"Keep my friends out of this." Fabala said, coming closer to the man, putting herself protectively between the man and Aran.

"I mean them no harm, nor you." The little man said. "I promise. I just wanted to know who you are. You do look familiar. I understand you have origins in the Vinkus," he motioned to her arms, before continuing, "but I was wondering if you have any family in Munchkinland also."

Fabala looked apprehensive for a moment, before turning to Aran, who shrugged. She bit her lip, before nodding once. "I had family in Colwen Grounds, they're all dead now."

The man smiled sadly. "I'm sorry to bring up such sad memories, then, but I'm sure you have many memories of them to live with, am I correct?"

Fabala's look became more dark and severe. "If you must know, my grandmother died in childbirth many years before I was born, my grandfather died a year before I was born, my aunt died a few months before I was born, and I've never met my uncle, and I'm not sure if he's dead or alive." She pursed her lips, glaring at the man. "So, no, I don't have any happy memories of them alive."

The little man bowed his head, holding a grimy old hat in his hands, almost as a ward against the Winkie. Aran touched Fabala's arm lightly. She jerked away at first, but then, blushing, she grabbed his hand. "Sorry," she whispered to him, "I'm still not used to it."

He nodded, fully understanding. He had lived with Fabala long enough to know she wasn't used to touching other people that weren't Fiyero or Elphaba, and she still shied away from Nissa in the blonde's over-exuberance, even though now the two half-sisters had become rather good friends.

The little man backed off of the Yellow Brick Road slightly, not meaning to offend the girl. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss. I didn't mean to offend you. But you say you had family in Colwen Grounds? That may be why you look familiar. I've only been to Munchkinland once or twice myself; once when I was much younger, and the second time a few years ago, but I'm sure I've seen someone with your face." He bowed to her, before stepping back. "I'm sorry to intrude upon your walk with your swain, Miss...?"  
"Thropp." She answered haughtily. Aran squeezed her hand to show his encouragement.

The little man's mouth twitched. "And where are you from, originally, Master...?"

"Diggs, please, call me Diggs." The man said with a flourishing bow. "All the students do. And I'm from Ugabu. Not originally, mind you, but I had been living there until I decided I missed Oz too much to stay away."

Fabala's face hardened and she stiffly nodded to Diggs. "Well, I'm glad to meet you, Master Diggs, but we really must get to the market before our curfew. Excuse us." She stepped around the man, and pulled Aran along with her.

They didn't say anything for a long while, but when they were a few feet away from the bazaar, they turned to each other simultaneously.

"I don't trust that man, Fae." Said Aran.

"That man is looking for something." Fabala said at the same time. Aran chuckled, but then turned to her.

"Like what?"  
"My mother." Said Fabala quietly. Aran's brown eyes widened, but then he nodded in understanding.

"He didn't react like others do to the name Thropp, did he?"

"No, he didn't. And he was...just odd." Fabala said, making a face.

They walked into the bazaar, looking around. There were beautiful scarves from the Vinkus, next to carved toys from Munchkinland, and precious jewelry from Quadling Country. Fabala noticed Aran stop as they walked past the jewelry, and she stopped. She squeezed his hand and let go. "I'll be in the next stall." She said quietly.

Aran nodded, before tentatively approaching the stall. "What can I do for you, sir?" Asked a young woman, about twenty, who was sitting in the shadows. "Do you want to buy a bauble for your sweetheart? Or maybe sir would like a...sweet Oz!" Aran looked up quickly at the young woman, whose brown eyes had widened in disbelief as she stared at Aran. She moved out of the stall to look at Aran. She inspected the scar on the left side of his face, moving his hair out of the way carefully as she did. "It can't be, can it? Little Aran?"  
"Little?" he said, offended. The woman smiled. She wasn't a particularly hansom woman; hard years working in the mines had left her looking rather boxy, and her skin and hair was dirty. He blinked, and pulled away from her. "I'm sorry; miss, but I don't know you." He said quietly.

She didn't look too fazed by his reaction, but simply looked into the darkness of the stall. "Abena, come here!" the girl called, before turning back to Aran. "I'm Baina. I know you, you are little Aran. We grew up together, until they took you away; the first time the Gale Force invaded Ovvels." She looked down. "Aran, the Gale Force has nearly decimated our villages. Most of our families – yours as well as mine – have been sent to the Glikkus." Baina looked around. "It isn't safe for you here; the Gale Force is watching our stalls."

Aran looked at Baina, before shaking his head. "I'm no longer a citizen of Oz, they can't hurt me."

Baina frowned at him. "You are still a Quadling, and that means you are still under their control."

"He's not under anyone's control." Fabala said acidly, coming up behind the two. "He's a human being; you can't expect a human being to be controlled by someone."

A haggard old woman came out of the stall, looking at them curiously. "Ah, but all people are given a destiny by Lurline."

"I don't believe in a fairy queen, nor do I believe in a god with no name." Fabala said flatly.

The woman looked perplexed. "But surely you believe in something child?"  
"Yes, myself." Said the girl, before turning. She held a long, wrapped package in her hands, and she glared stiffly at the two Quadlings.

She turned to leave, and Aran sighed, looking at the women. "I had a choice; I could have fought back, but I didn't. I was brought to the Vinkus, and saved. But I regret not fighting back. Please don't regret what you have done. Lurline Bless." He turned, but Baina grabbed his arm.

"Please, take this, Little Aran. As a gift, for Lurline brought you back to your family." She handed him a small signet ring with the crest of the house of Upland. He smiled at it, and nodded, thanking the two women.

When they returned back to Shiz, Fabala stored the package on her bed, before going to the library. If she had any luck at all, Nissa would be there, chattering away with her Gillikinese friends. And of course, there she was, perfect Nissa, smiling and laughing at the right moments. Fabala sighed; she could never be like that. She didn't want that responsibility, and she hated to admit it, but she envied Nissa some for her popularity. Though she could tell from the fakeness of the smile that Nissa didn't want it.

"Nissa, I need you to do something for me." Fabala said curtly. They kept up some pretense of hating each other around Nissa's friends. It was best to keep the ignorant in the dark.

Nissa pouted, and pointed to the small study group that consisted of Kade, Sheika, Riley, and, for some reason, Noelani. "Why can't you get Riley to do your dirty work?"

"Because I need you to help me, whether you want to or not." She said flatly.

Nissa let out an extravagant sigh, before getting up and nodding. "Right, fine. I'll see you later, girls!" She followed Fabala out the library stiffly, before clinging to the girl's arm. "So, what's this about?"

Fabala didn't answer until they reached their dormitory. She opened the door and went to the bookshelf, where she pulled the Grimmerie off. "I want to try the levitation spell." She said quietly.

Nissa backed away. "Why do you need me here?"

"Because, I don't know if I can pull myself out of the chant. You can help me if I go overboard."

Nissa sucked in a breath, before nodding, backing herself against the door. Fabala pulled the wrapping off of her package, and revealed a new broom.

She sat on the bed, book open, and broom lying haphazardly away from her. She could tell her witness was nervous; _she_ was nervous, but she wouldn't let anyone else know that.

"Ahben tahkay entayah tinfentah," she read, slowly at first. Then the words started to come faster as she got used to them.

They came fast and strong; she was surer of herself as she said the words of the incantation over and over seemingly to herself. To her, there was no one else in the room. It was just her and the book.

_Well, where are your wings? Maybe you're not as powerful as you think you are._

She felt a shudder pass through her. She was no longer in the present, but as she spoke the four words of the spell over and over again, she was also getting pulled back into the memories of the book. It scared her to realize that the magic of the book allowed it to have memories, but it was thrilling and more real that anything she had experienced.

"Ahben tahkay entayah tinfentah..."

_Come with me. Think of what we could do. Together._

The world was slowly spinning out of focus, but she didn't care. She pulled in an erratic breath, before she continued to chant.

"Stop it." She heard, far away. It sounded like it was coming from someone on land while she was slowly getting pulled under water. No, she wasn't getting pulled into water. That sent another chill up her spine as she continued to chant, this chill due to fear.

"Ahben tahkay entayah tinfentah..."

_Elphie, you're trembling. Here...put this around you._

"Please, stop it!" Everything was starting to muddle together. She had to stop; she needed to stop. But the thrill and exhilaration she felt as she read pushed her to continue.

_It's not her! I'm the one you want! She has nothing to do with it. It's me, It's ME!_

"Ahben tahkay..."

"Fabi!" Nissa screamed, breaking her sister's concentration. Fabala broke off, breathless. They stayed in their places, Nissa staring at Fabala. She hugged herself, nervous. "Well?" she said after a long moment of silence. "Where are your wings?"

Fabala shook. In her exhaustion, she saw the broom quiver, then rise. She let out a shout of surprise, before getting up and hugging Nissa, who was staring wide eyed at the broom. "We did it!"

"_You_ did it." Nissa whispered, hugging Fabala.


	8. Lies and Deception

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: School's closing in, so I'm not sure how much longer I can keep up with my normal schedule of posting a chapter. Also, I want to thank everyone for the reviews, and I hope this chapter meets with your stamps of approval.

Chapter Eight: Lies and Deceptions

_They stared at each other for a few moments. Everyone was staring. Finally, a member of the Gale Force straightened. "The Goat is on the lam, sir." _

_"Never mind all that." Blue eyes looked into near black, before he straightened, looking at the Gale Force guard. "Just fetch me some...some water."_

_The two guards looked at each other. "Water, sir?"_

_"You heard me!" He barked. "As much as you can carry."_

_"Yes, sir!" said the guards, walking out of the throne room in unison._

_The woman let out a ragged breath, trying to move to him. "Fiyero..."_

_"I said silence!" he ground out. He moved behind the throne, pulling a small, old man out from behind it._

_"Help!" the man yelped as he was dumped none too gracefully onto the dais in front of the throne._

_The bayonet was moved from the Witch to the old man. "Don't make a sound, your Ozness, unless you want all your guests to know the truth about the Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Blue eyes flickered back onto the woman. "Elphaba, get out of here."_

_She grabbed his arm. "You frightened me, Fiyero. I thought you had changed."  
He looked down. "I have...changed."_

Fabala jumped up with a gasp, before glaring at the Grimmerie. Since she had used the spell from it, she had been having the same dream; a dream about her parents, and the old man from the bar. She shook as she pulled herself up. The dreams were vivid memories, and she didn't exactly like them. Shaking and rolling over, she lay back down and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of Riley and Nissa breathing, until finally she drifted back to sleep.

_The old woman looked at the man, and they smiled at each other. "So the Wizard was thinking, perhaps, a levitation spell." The old woman said, opening the book. The small blonde woman slipped behind, and stared at the book reverently._

_"Is that...The Grimmerie?"_

_"Yes, the ancient book of spells and enchantments." Said the old woman, handing it to the green woman on the floor._

_"Can I touch it?" asked Glinda._

_"No." The old woman whispered back. _

_The green woman looked at the book, running a finger over the pages. "What funny writing."_

_The old woman nodded. "Well, it's a lost language, dear. The lost language of spells." _

_The Wizard smiled kindly. "It's kind of a recipe book for change."_

_"Don't be discouraged if you cannot decipherate it, dearie. I, myself, can only read a spell or two, and that took years and years..."_

"Well, we all have odd dreams, don't we?" Said Riley. She was making lunch for the group of friends, and was watching the boiling water skeptically. "Is it okay if it's boiling?" she asked.

Fabala shrugged. "I've never had anything that had been in boiling water, before. My family's cook never wanted to risk it."

Riley frowned. "Well then, we'll just find out on our own, won't we?" She clucked, before going back to her cooking.

Aran rubbed Fabala's shoulder lightly, trying to calm her down. "How long have you been having these dreams, Fae?"

Fabala lifted her head, making eye contact with Nissa. No one knew about the levitating broom, not even Riley, as it was being kept in the small closet only Nissa used for her rather large dresses. "They started the night after we went to the bazaar."

Aran nodded silently, continuing to try and calm the girl down. Riley came over to the table, putting stew in front of them, along with some bowls. "Eat up; I don't want the kitchen staff catching me using their food."

"Um, Riley?" asked Kade, sounding a little sick. "I'm a vegetarian."

She put a rather large salad in front of him. "I've already thought of that." She said. Kade smiled at her, before they all started to eat. Fabala pushed her food around, a little hesitant to eat it, and sighed when Aran removed his hand so he could pick up a fork.

"Maybe these dreams are prophetic?" said Destin suddenly, looking up.

Fabala shook her head. "It's what happened in the past; Glinda becoming the Good Witch, Fiyero Tigalaar becoming the Captain of the Gale Force."

"Traitor." Muttered Sheika. Fabala lifted her head. "I mean no disrespect, but it's true; he's a prince with no throne now, is he not? He gave up his throne to be with a Gillikin whom he didn't love. I find that very hard to understand."

"The concept of love is hard to understand; but he didn't give up his crown for her...it was...for someone else." Nissa sent Fabala a quick smile, before going back to her stew, turning pink.

"Well, if you want answers, go straight to the horse's mouth." Noelani said, flinging his fork, and a bit of meat, in the air. Fabala stared at him, and he shrugged. "Well, it's a good idea; go talk to one of them. You say Diggs is in these dreams, then go talk to Diggs." He shrugged.

Destin blinked at Noelani, mouth hanging open. "That...you...said something intelligent."

The Munchkin smiled. "I did, didn't I?"

Fabala sighed, shaking her head. "This is never going to work." She said, putting her hands on her head, and her elbows on the table.

The door opened, and Valen came in, holding a message. "Miss...Fabia?" She said slowly. Kade hid a smile behind his napkin; they hadn't made a huge breakthrough, but Valen was learning slowly but surely.

Fabala lifted her head, confused. "What's wrong, Valen?" She asked. The monkey handed her a letter, before moving over to Kade, one hand out.

"Good girl, Valen." He said, dropping a tomato for the monkey.

"Kade, no feeding the animal from the table." Said Riley sternly. Kade started playing with his fur, but he was laughing quietly.

Fabala opened the letter, brows furrowed quizzically.

**_Dear Fabala –_**

**_You're mother's worried about your safety, and what has happened. She said you received word that your father is safe, but we haven't seen him for two weeks. Someone's lying to you, and I don't want you getting hurt, but Pfen was with him, and I haven't seen him for as long as your father. Please take care of yourself, and don't do anything rash._**

_**Your humble servant, **_

_**Mellesse**_

Fabala shook, but calm eyes swept over the table. Everyone was looking at her; they all were worried. She stood, her chair scraping on the stone floor, and she turned sharply, walking out of the door and into the gardens of Crage Hall. Purposefully, she went to her dormitory and wrenched open the door to the closet.

She grabbed the broom and laid it on the bed, where it hovered a few feet above. She went to her bookshelf and picked up the Grimmerie, before grabbing her large brown bag and putting the book inside, along with the little green bottle that now sat on a shelf above her bed. She looked around the room wildly, before she saw the hat necklace Aran had given her. Moving toward it, she picked it up and latched it around her neck. Putting her bag around her shoulder and picking up her broom, she started out of the room.

And walked right into Nissa. "I'm coming too." The blonde said stubbornly.

"No, you're staying here with the others." Fabala said, walking around the smaller girl.

"No I'm not. I'm coming too. That broom can fit the two of us; it's bigger than the one in the attic. Please, think of what we could do, together." Nissa pleaded. Fabala looked around, sighing, before she pulled Nissa into a small field where there were no other students.

She held out the broom, and sat down on it, side-saddle, before looking at Nissa pointedly. "Well, are you coming?"

Nissa smiled, and, pulling her large skirt around her legs to keep it from flying around them, she got onto the broom also.

"Let's hope this works." Fabala whispered, kicking off.


	9. In the City of Emeralds

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: Nothing really. Second chapter I've done today, though. Yay! Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. Thanks for the reviews! And I don't know what happened with Boq; he keeps ending up as the nice one.

Chapter Nine: In the City of Emeralds

By air, it was a much faster trip to the Emerald City than it was by land. Fabala landed the broom on the outskirts of the City, and, with Nissa, walked up to the Emerald doors guarding the large city from allowing anyone of ungainly origins into it. Fabala didn't knock on the doors, she just pushed them open.

"Weren't those heavy?" Nissa asked, waking along behind her sister.

"No." said Fabala shortly.

"Oh."

They wove through the crowds until they reached the Palace. Fabala walked around it, searching for something. Nissa followed, confused.

"What are you looking for?"

"A servant's entrance; we have five in Kiamo Ko. There should be some here." Nissa nodded, and started to run her hand over the emerald wall. Her hand hit something, and she made a small noise. "What is it?" Fabala asked, turning to her.

"I found a handle!" Nissa exclaimed.

"Well, don't just hold it; pull it open!" Fabala said, coming to her side. Nissa did as she was told, and opened the door. It led to a dank hallway. The two girls looked at each other, before hesitantly walking into it.

It was very dark, and it was dripping. Cold air and water seeped into their clothes, and Nissa shuddered. Fabala went through her bag, before procuring a blanket, and put it around Nissa's arms. The blonde looked up, smiling. "Thanks." She whispered.

"Don't mention it." Fabala said lightly, before hissing in mild pain as a freezing drop of water fell onto her arm. "Do you know where we are?" she asked.

"Somewhere under the kitchens, probably." Said Nissa, looking up at the ceiling.

Fabala nodded, before touching the wall with calloused fingertips, where the pain of water wasn't as bad. "Are there any dungeons in the Palace?" she asked mildly.

Nissa thought. "Yes, they're on the same level as the kitchens; it's a level only staff and prisoners use. But they haven't been used since the Wizard's reign."

"We'll see about that." Fabala said determinedly. She put Nissa in front of her, and touched the blanket softly. "Show me." She whispered.

Nissa nodded, and started to walk through the winding passageway. A few minutes passed before they found a set of stairs. Nissa walked up them cautiously, Fabala following behind, broom on her shoulders to keep the moisture from falling onto them. They came to a door seven or so steps up, and Nissa moved the handle slowly, before pushing the door open.

They were in an open air kitchen, where kitchen staff seven times the size of Kiamo Ko's worked to make a large meal. Fabala looked at them curiously, but Nissa grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the kitchen and into a side door that seemed to be long forgotten.

"The Wizard hid the entrance to the prison because he didn't want to desecrate the beauty of the city." She explained as she pushed back some moss for Fabala. The darker girl nodded, walking in, and Nissa led the way down the much smaller and dryer hallway, until they reached the small, round prison.

It was almost comical; there were doors all around, all barred, but if you looked from the position of the passage, there seemed to be no one in any of them. "You start on the left; I'll go on the right." Fabala said, dropping her broom. Nissa nodded, before moving away. They looked through the bars; Fabala was getting closer and closer to the center of the cells, and her heart was sinking. Then, she heard Nissa's shout.

"Fabi, over here!" she called. Fabala turned and went over to the cell Nissa was in front of. She fell to the ground when she reached it, ignoring the fact that her bag fell rather haphazardly onto the ground as she did so.

"Father?" she managed, holding a hand through the bar.

Fiyero turned, before letting out a breath of relief. "Fabala, what are you doing here?" He asked her, grabbing her hand and pulling close to the bars.

"I came looking for you. Is Pfen with you?" she asked. Fiyero nodded.

"He's asleep, though." He looked at her, before smiling, hugging her through the bars. "I didn't think you'd find me." He said quietly.

She pulled away, looking down. "Someone sent a fake letter saying that you'd made it back home fine."

Fiyero's eyes darkened. "Oh, really?" he said it casually, but Fabala could sense the hint of anger in her father's voice. He turned to Nissa, smiling at her. "Thank you for helping my Fabala, Nissa." He said quietly.

Nissa nearly burst into tears right then as she grabbed Fiyero through the bars. "I don't know what Fabi would have done if you weren't alive!" She said.

Fabala got up, looking at the lock. "We've got to get you out of there." She said.

"And how are we going to get back home, Faeba?" Fiyero asked.

Fabala winced; she hadn't thought the plan through to that level. Nissa pulled away from Fiyero, though, a gleam in her sapphire eyes.

"Mother will help you; she loves you, of course she'll help you!" She said vehemently. Fabala nodded her agreement, before looking at the lock.

"How can we open this?" She asked herself.

"You can't open it." Said a new voice. Fabala blinked and turned slowly, looking at the Tinman, who stood in the center of the prison, holding the broom. He looked from the broom to Fabala, before moving over to them and leaning down with a few audible clanks and looking into the prison cell. "Who, exactly, are you trying to...sweet Oz!" He backed away from the cell as if he had been hit. "Fiyero?" it came out as little more than a whisper.

"Can you help us?" Fabala asked. The Tinman looked between the girls and the man in the cell, before nodding once.

Fabala sent him a small smile a thanks, before moving her bag to allow the Tinman to come closer. He moved closer to them, dropping Fabala's broom neatly onto her bag as he did, and started to work on the lock. "I heard you were dead, Fiyero." He said.

The captive blinked, before shaking his head. "No, Elpha-a friend of mine, saved my life."

The Tinman sent a sidelong glance Fabala's way, before wrenching the lock off of the door. "Elphaba saved you?" He asked incredulously.

The door came open with a wail, and Fiyero pulled Pfen out of the cell before coming out himself. He stared at the Tinman for a few minutes, before raising an eyebrow in obvious confusion. "Who are you?" he asked.

Fabala poked Nissa. The blonde turned, and Fabala motioned for her to leave the two men to themselves. Nissa nodded, and picked up Fabala's things. They moved to the door, only to see a dark figure standing in front of the open doorway at the end of the hall.

The two girls went back to the prison, looking at the men. "We've got company!" Fabala said.

Footsteps echoed into the prison cell, and Nissa pulled Fabala behind the Tinman and Fiyero.

Ozma came into the room, looking around, perplexed. "Just what is going on in here?" she asked.

The Tinman looked at Fiyero. "This man is no criminal, he's former captain of the Gale Force."

"Yes, I know who he is, but why is he here?" Ozma asked, shaking her head.

The Tinman opened and closed his mouth, trying to answer the question, but nothing came out. He turned to Fiyero, who shrugged nonchalantly. "The Gale Force, your Highness. They attacked my man and me while we were leaving the city. They brought us in here and then forgot about us."

Ozma looked around at the three men. "And who's responsible for this reconnaissance?"

They looked at each other, but Fabala walked out from behind the men. "Fabi!" hissed Nissa.

Fabala stood tall, holding her bag on one arm, and her broom cocked like a gun on her other. "I am." She said defiantly.

Ozma pushed strands out brown hair out of her face, looking at Fabala quizzically. "And who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Fabala Thropp, you Highness." She said, curtseying as well as she could without bending her left knee. Ozma smiled; pretenses of royalty gone.

Nissa came out from behind the Tinman, grabbing Fabala's hand tightly so that the girl couldn't flinch away from her. "And I'm, as you know, Nissa Upland. I'm this man's illegitimate daughter, and Fabala's half-sister."

The young woman smiled wider, and nodded. "Of course, of course; come with me." She led them out of the prison and out of the open kitchen, to a small garden. She turned to Fabala and smiled, this time sadly. "There are many odd things happening lately. The Gale Force's stronghold is in Ugabu, and even if we had control over the West, that is still a disputed territory, and we have no claim over it. I'm sorry for this mess; I'll see to it personally that you, Master Fiyero, get home safely along with your manservant."

"Healer." Corrected Fiyero.

"Right, 'healer', and I'll talk with your mother, Miss Nissa, and see if we can't rectify this problem."

"What about Dorothy?" Nissa asked. Ozma's face fell.

"She doesn't come to our meetings anymore, and she's become withdrawn. I don't know if it's because she misses her own home, or if it's something else that I'm not aware of. But Dorothy and I can no longer talk to each other without fighting, I'm sorry, Miss Nissa."

Nissa pet Ozma's arm. "It's okay, really. See? I'm not angry. I'm just a little worried."

Ozma cheered slightly. "Would you like me to see you two back to Shiz? I'd love to go back there."

Fabala shook her head. "We have our own transportation."

That was the first time Fiyero noticed the broom, and his eyes widened. "You didn't." he said.

Fabala blushed. "I did." She looked up at him. "I had to, I wanted to know if I could, and I found Mother's in the attic here, and I just...I just...I'm sorry." She said in a rush. Fiyero laughed.

"It's okay, Faeba. You're your mother's daughter after all."

The Tinman and Ozma stared at Fabala and Fiyero.

"So...Elphie's not dead." The Tinman said, sounding a little rusted.

"Dorothy didn't kill the Witch of the West?" asked Ozma.

Fiyero looked at Fabala, and put a hand on her shoulder. "No one is permitted to know, or they will have to deal with Glinda."

"So, Glinda knows?" The Tinman said, putting a hand to his head.

"We should go." Nissa whispered. Fabala nodded.

"Thank you, your Highness, for everything; please, don't tell Miss Gale about all of this. Now, if you'll excuse us..." Fabala put the broom out, and she and Nissa got on much in the same fashion they had before. Fabala kicked off, and they flew through the sky, back south.

"So, are we going back to Shiz?" Nissa asked.

"No." Fabala said darkly. "We're off to see the Wizard." She muttered.


	10. Planning

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: I hope no one was waiting for a confrontation with the Wizard this chapter, because, really, if there was, the story would end, and we don't want that, do we? Anyway, fluff ahead, you've been warned. Also, anyone who doesn't understand Nissa (and who does?) should read my one-shot "Misunderstood". Apt title, I'd like to say. But don't read the AN there, because I wrote that before I wrote the story, and I was going to have it set during "Entertaining Destiny", but now it's set during the epilogue of the aforementioned story. Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated and adored (my friend is getting annoyed with my constant forcing him to read the reviews you guys give me) and since they do push me to work on this story, please take the time to review and thank you in advance. (Phew!)

Chapter Ten: Planning

Nissa didn't know how she had done it, but on the trip to the bar, she had managed to talk headstrong and angry Fabala out of barging into the bar and letting all Hell break lose with Diggs. She had talked her into talking to Destin, who was taking a course on strategy, and so they were now back at Shiz.

It was a beautiful day; warm post-summer sun beat down on the buildings, warming the air enough to be comfortable without being stifling. Many of the upperclassmen were doing homework on the University lawn, and near the back was a small blanket where a contemplative Fabala sat, looking at the clear blue sky.

"I wish I could have just gone in there and told him what on my mind." She said grimly.

Aran sighed as he turned to her, shaking his head. "I've seen you when you're mad, Fae. Even Lurline herself wouldn't want to stand in the way of you when you're angry." He teased. She let a small smirk through, before scowling again.

"But it's not fair!" She huffed.

"You sound like a spoilt child."

Fabala was scandalized. "I do not look like Nissa." She said. Aran had to laugh at that.

Aran lay down on the blanket, closing his eyes as he faced the sun. He felt Fabala moved closer to him, and put an arm out, wrapping it around her. "Promise me one thing, Fae."

"What?" She asked.

"That, whatever happens and no matter what the reason, you won't turn me into a scarecrow." He said. Fabala laughed, moving away from him to look up and make sure he was actually serious. He scowled at her. "Well?"  
"I promise." She said, putting her hand over her heart, before she couldn't hold it in anymore, and started laughing hysterically. Aran bit his lip to make sure he didn't start laughing, too.

Their laughter died down, and they slipped into companionable silence. Fabala looked up at the sky, before rolling over and sending Aran a Cheshire grin. "What?" he asked, wary.

Fabala looked at him, and the grin became more secretive. Aran started to panic, but Fabala touched his arm, tracing patterns lightly on his tanned arm with the pads of her fingers, watching the contrast between their skin tones. "Let's play twenty questions." She said, delicately. He turned to her in surprise, and she kissed him chastely. He blinked in surprise, before grinning.

"Why not?" he said, smiling at her, "but who asks the questions?"

She shrugged. "I'll start." He nodded, and she thought about a question for a few moments. Then she moved her fingers away from his arm and put her index finger near her mouth. "What's the weirdest word you've ever heard?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Picnic." He said.

She nodded. "That is an odd one." She said. "Let's see...what word would you eliminate if you could?"

"Hate." He said, blushing. She touched his arm again, and he looked over at her.

"So would I." she whispered. He nodded in understanding, before cocking his head, waiting for more questions. "Okay, if you don't want to turn into a scarecrow, what would be the inanimate object of choice for the picky Quadling?" she teased.

Aran flicked her arm lightly, making a face, before putting serious thought into the question. "I don't know." He said at last. "Maybe some piece of jewelry."

"Why?" His smile flickered.

"That'll cost you a question." She huffed, but waved a hand in the air to signify that she would allow it. "So I can always be with you." She blushed, looking away, slightly uncomfortable with the testimony. She turned only when Aran grabbed the hand she had left dangling in the air. "Sorry," he muttered. Fabala turned to him, sending him a quick, though slightly bemused, smile.

"It's fine, Aran. Just...let me get used to it." She said quietly, the blush fading lightly. She cleared her throat and went back to her train of thought, brows furrowed in thought.

"You know, if you're stumbling on your fifth question, I don't want to know how long we'll be stuck out here waiting for the next five." Aran said. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, then. If you want, you can ask me a question." He smiled, nodding.

"Okay, then. If you could change your appearance, who would you want to look like?"

Fabala sighed, looking away. "Nissa." She said quietly. Aran blinked several times. Fabala had never been one to measure anything by looks – she herself was darker than any Winkie Aran had ever seen, and her mother was...well, green, as had been her brother – but by the newfound redness rising on the near ebony skin, he could tell that she had put a lot of thought into that question before.

Clearing his throat, he let the subject drop. "What is the weirdest word you've ever heard?" he asked.

Fabala frowned at him. "That was my question." She said, slightly offended by the plagiarism.

"I'm borrowing it. Now, answer the question."

Fabala shrugged. "Love." She said. Aran looked at her curiously.

"Love?"

"Mmmhmm." She said, eyes lazily half-lidded. She was suddenly tackled, and laughed as she looked up at Aran, who was now over her. "A bit forward, aren't we?" she teased, trying to push him away. With one hand, he grabbed her wrists and put them down on the blanket. With the other, he held his weight.

"I'll let go of your hands if you promise not to try and push me away, again." He said simply. Fabala nodded, letting her hands go limp. Aran smiled and let go of her, using the fingers of that hand to gently push her face towards him. "Why is that such a hard word to understand?" he asked quietly. Sapphire eyes flickered into brown, before they looked anywhere but at him. He sighed lightly, touching her face again to make her focus on him. When she did, eyes carefully unreadable, he continued. "You've had love all your life; family, servants, even the Animals in the Badlands. Why can't you understand a word you've lived?"

"Well, you don't understand the word 'picnic', and I know you've been on plenty of those." Fabala barbed. He chuckled at that, before focusing again.

"Well?" she sighed.

"I've experienced love, but...the only person I really cared for...died." She shrugged, starting to push him away again. He grabbed her arm and put them down solidly on the ground. He looked down at her, his brain slowly processing what she had said. He shook his head, letting nearly brown strands of hair fall into his eyes.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." He promised.

"Good." She said quietly. She reached up. Instinct told him to grab her arm again and make her listen to him, but when only one hand reached out hesitantly; he decided to see where she was going with it. Gently, she brushed the stray strands of hair out of his eyes, head cocking to the left as she put the strands behind his ear carefully.

He laughed, eyes closed. "You really do have a pet peeve about hair, don't you?"

"What makes you say that?" she asked blithely. He picked up his hand and went to touch her hair. She slapped his hand away.

"Well, your braid being compulsively perfect was my first clue." He teased. She smiled at him, and he leaned down, kissing her lightly.

"Really, you two need to get a room." Kade said, interrupting the tender moment. Both flushed, and Fabala pulled herself out from under Aran, who fell onto her side with an audible groan.

"You really know how to ruin the mood." He muttered. Kade just shrugged, rubbing a paw through the fur, before he scratched an ear.

"Well, believe me, it's not fun being the one to walk in on the escape, either. Really, did you two have to go at it in broad daylight _outside_?"

Fabala scowled as she stood, brushing her skirt off. "We were not 'going at it'; we were talking."

Kade bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "Really? That was talking? I don't think I want to see what you two do when you make out, then."

Aran picked up the blanket and rolled it but, glaring at the Red Panda, who had a wicked smile playing on his lips. "Why did you have to barge in on us, then? You could have walked away."

Kade shook his head, fixing his glasses back around his ears. "No can do, Destin's come up with a plan on how to get information out of Old Man Diggs, and we figured – okay, Sheika, for some bizarre reason figured – that Fabala should be there because it is 'her endeavor we are embarking on'." Kade shook his head, imitating his roommate perfectly. "Sometimes, I wonder what that Winkie's on." At Fabala's raised eyebrow, Kade held up his paws to protect himself from the dry comment he knew Fabala would make, and shook his head. "I didn't mean to offend anyone, really, it just...came out." He winced. "I'm doing a lot of unintentional coming out, aren't I?" he laughed.

Fabala chuckled, shaking her head, while Aran stood there blankly, not understanding. He shrugged it off, however, and raised an eyebrow at Kade. The Animal blinked deep black eyes, before it dawned on him that they were waiting to be told where to go. He let out a small noise somewhere close to a 'meep', and hung his head. "Um, we kind of have to go into the back room of Briscoe Hall's library." He said. "The other girls are already in there; Professor Agram was asleep when I walked by the last few times, since that's all he ever does because none of the boys use that library when they can use Three Queens or Ozma Towers libraries. Anyway, we can get past him, it's only Professor Timin I'm worried about, but he's usually at lunch right now and..."

Aran cleared his throat, and Kade cut off. "I was rambling again, wasn't I?" the Animal asked meekly, clearly still embarrassed about walking in on his two companions kissing.

"Yes, you were." Aran said, petting Kade on the back. Kade made a face.

"I'm an Animal, not a pet." He said, before leading the way to the library.

Professor Agram was, indeed, asleep. Kade shrugged, tail flicking proudly, before he led the way to the back room. Fabala looked around the library, fascinated.

"This isn't fair, it's ten times bigger than Crage Hall's library, and we can't use the other three libraries." She said, glancing around. Not only were there tens of thousands of books crammed into every possible orifice in the wall, but there were also paintings of respectable male teachers and Heads on the wall. Fabala caught sight of one labeled 'Dillamond', depicting a Goat on a dais, his teaching mannerisms similar to those of Professor Timin.

"Well, if you want, we can sneak you in again, but later." Kade said. Fabala shook her head.

"I don't want to risk it." She said quietly.

Aran looked at her skeptically. "Aren't you the girl who spelled a broom to fly, then went on an impromptu mission to the Emerald City with the daughter of the most powerful woman in Oz?"

"True." Fabala said, shrugging the accusation off.

"Fabi, over here!" hissed Nissa. The blonde girl appeared in the doorframe of a small archival room, waving frantically at the newly arrived guests. Fabala walked over to Nissa, who automatically pounced on Fabala and dragged her into the room. "Tin has finally made himself useful and has come up with an almost fool-proof plan to help you get Diggs to crack!"

Destin cleared his throat at the nickname, sending the blonde a quick, stern look. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he stood like a general with his strategists. "No plan is fool-proof, Nissa." He said.

Fabala gave Nissa a quick look, watching the girl deflate slightly. Fabala grabbed her sister's hand, giving it a quick squeeze of approval. Nissa looked up at Fabala, smiling lightly, before looking back to Destin, who looked rather gloomy.

"Here's our plan of attack; Fabala and Nissa will stand outside of the pub, waiting until Kade comes out."

"Why would Kade come out?" Nissa asked.

"Because Friday nights at the Nameless Pub are no-Animals-allowed nights." Said Destin calmly. Kade leaned against the wall, muttering something rather spitefully to himself. "Aran, Kade, and Sheika will come in together at seven thirty; Noelani will already been in there with a group of juniors."

"My 'friends'." Corrected Noelani, making quotation marks in the air. Destin shrugged.

"Right, well, after the freshmen boys come in, Riley will come in and everyone will go to the back table; when it's full, then Diggs comes up to get drinks and start conversations with the students; but first, he's going to throw Kade out, since he always does to Professor Timin. When Kade comes out, I want you girls to sneak in and listen to everything he says with what he asks him, we'll keep him busy. Now, any questions?"

"Just one." Asked Riley. Destin looked at her. "Just where do you come in, Captain?"

Destin looked down at the notes he had taken, rereading them carefully. He groaned, and put his head in his hands. "I knew I forgot someone."

"Great job there, Nokomyu." Noelani teased.


	11. Parent's Day

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. With school, rehearsals, guitar lessons, chorus, homework (believe me, it's a whole different ball game from school, especially without a study hall), ED, and DH4, I'm getting behind in my fics, both original and this. And this chapter has singing in it again! Woo! Hehe; I had to bring it back, sorry ya'll. Another Cole Porter song, because I 3 him. Copyright of this song is 1932, and it's been stuck in my head since I last listened to "De-Lovely", so there you go. And finally, this chapter's much shorter than the other ones, but next chapter is the confrontation with Diggs. wink

Chapter Eleven: Parent's Day

Miss Greyling was more than happy to have two students for her class of competent magical background. The two girls sat in the small room, looking at the objects in front of them. "All of these are essential to your magical training; a wand, a seer's ball, and, of course, a standard book of spells!" She beamed. Fabala poked the plastic-looking wand, before looking at her instructor.

"Miss Greyling? I don't need a wand, I can do magic without it."

Miss Greyling sighed. "Well, just try it, for me, Miss Thropp." She said. Fabala shrugged, nodding. The bell rang, and Miss Greyling sighed, handing the girls their items. "Please study hard, girls!" She called.

Nissa looked back at the room, before leaning over to Fabala. "That woman's insane!"

Fabala nodded. "But she's better than Morrible was, according to mother." That sparked something in Nissa's brain, and she grabbed Fabala's arm.

"Today's parent's day!" she said in a sing-song voice. Fabala just blinked at her, and she rolled her eyes. "That means I'll get to see mother today!"  
Fabala blinked. "What about our...plans?" she asked.

She shrugged. "Don't worry about them! We'll still put them into action, but just after our parents leave."

Fabala laughed. "You actually think Mother would come out of Kiamo Ko?" she asked.

Nissa made a face. "Good point." She looked at Fabala. "But you can always be with my Mother!"

Fabala smiled, nodding. Someone grabbed her arm, and she turned, smiling at Aran. "Miss me?" he asked.

She cocked her head. "And who are you, again?" she teased.

He poked her lightly, before wrapping a sisterly arm around Nissa, also. "So, Miss Glinda is coming to parent's day?"

Nissa nodded happily. Aran and Fabala sent each other quick looks, before Fabala caught onto what Aran was getting at, smiling to herself. Aran caught the look, and nodded surreptitiously. She pushed him out of the way, draping a casual arm over Nissa's shoulder. The other girl looked from the tattooed arm up to Fabala's face, which was totally void of any emotion. "Nissie, do you think you're mother would be willing to help us in our little plot?"

Nissa's eyes darted to the ground, and she coughed lightly. "Um...maybe, but I don't want to upset her political position."

"Nissa!" cried Fabala, flinging her hair in the air. "If we don't get that man out of Oz, the Vinkus, and Ugabu – preferably dead in the desert or across it into Boboland – then you're mother's job is in more jeopardy than if she didn't help us!"

"Oh..." Fabala and Aran waited. "I'll talk to her about it, but she'll probably say no." She perked up, seeing a pink dress in the crowd. "You two could hang around with Mother and me during the presentations, you know." She turned, smiling serenely.

"I'll come with you." Aran said. "But Fabala has something to do."

"Sadly, I can't believe you talked me into this." Fabala said. Nissa looked at Aran, confused. Aran just sent a wink in Fabala's direction, before pulling Nissa away.

Fabala sighed, taking her hair down. "As a member of the upper class of your tribe, you don't have to keep your hair in the customary braid, am I correct, Miss Thropp?" Fabala turned, blue eyes flashing.

The slightly lighter Scrow young man with the swirling tattoos lowered his eyes when Fabala turned to him. She smiled lightly, shaking her head. "Why aren't you with your family, Sheika?"

"Why, does my presence bother you?"

"No! It's just that I have to get ready for something Aran put me up to."

Sheika smiled lightly, before nodding. "My father is still in the Vinkus, he will never come to the Parent's Night. I don't think I'd want him here, anyway. But it's what the gods' will, and I am their servant."

Fabala rolled her eyes, but motioned the other Winkie to follow her. "I don't understand your fixation with the gods," she motioned to the habit, "but I respect it for you." She smiled, and he nodded.

"I'm going to find Kade and Noelani – they have promised to introduce me to the Munchkins they call family. I really want to know how Master Kade has a human father." Sheika shook his head.

"So would I, but I'm late. Send my regards!" Sheika nodded, and Fabala slipped into the hall the presentations were in.

"Miss Thropp!" Miss Greyling called. Fabala turned, and nodded to the middle-aged woman. "You're on right after Master Brimly." She put a hand on the dark girl's shoulder. "Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked quietly. "You can back out now, if you want."

"I won't back out." Fabala said sternly, but she sent her Sorcery teacher a quick, though fake, smile.

Brimly, a jaunty Gillikin, finished his piano piece, and walked off. "Good luck, Winkie, you'll need it."

Before she could hex the young man, Miss Greyling ushered her onstage. She froze as she reached the microphone.

_You have to get used to public speaking, Fae. Please don't hate me for doing this._ Fabala blanched at the remembrance of Aran's words last night. Then she swallowed her pride – and fear, since they went hand in hand when it came to saying anything in front of a crowd of less than five people – and opened her mouth.

"Like the beat beat beat of the tom-tom

When the jungle shadows fall

Like the tick tick tick of the stately clock

As it stands against the wall

Like the drip drip drip of the raindrops

When the summer shower is through

So a voice within me keeps repeating you you you..."

Fabala scanned the crowd, before she saw the glistening pink...abomination, really, not dress, that Glinda was wearing. She looked next to her, where Lord Bromley sat, and frowned. Then she caught Nissa and Aran sitting right in front of her, and nearly started. She kept plowing through the song, though, keeping eye-contact with her sister and swain, to make sure she didn't embarrass herself.

"Night and day you are the one

Only you beneath the moon or under the sun

Whether near me, or far

It's no matter darling where you are.

I think of you

Day and night, night and day, why is it so

That this longing for you follows wherever I go

In the roaring traffic's boom

In the silence of my room

I think of you.

There's an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me

And this torment won't be through

Until you let me spend my life making love to you

Day and night, night and day."

Letting out a heavy, thankful sigh, Fabala slipped off the stage, ignoring the applause. Brimly looked positively livid. "Beginner's luck." He grumbled.

Fabala shrugged. "Whatever you say." She condescended, the tone of voice used learnt from living with Nissa for two weeks.

She slinked into the audience of the presentation, barely hearing Miss Greyling's announcement of the next performer. She heard a chair scrape and sat down, glad that there was an empty one where she was going. Aran smiled coyly, sitting down in the chair he had pulled up for himself. Nissa touched Fabala's hand, and she jerked back to the land of the living. "Are you all right?"

"Never have me do that again!"

"But you've done it fine these past times."

Aran shook his head. "Fabala's scared of talking in front of crowds."

"Yes, well, my brother was always the boisterous one, and look what happened to him when he asked a group of men where they were going." She said fondly, playing with her hair. Nissa nodded in understanding, eyes downcast, before she smiled, trying to change the subject.

"Miss Fabala, you'll never guess what The Good Witch of the North has decided to do."

"What?" Fabala asked bluntly, not into guessing games. Nissa pouted, but continued.

"She has decided that she will stay at Shiz for another day or so to visit her old haunts, including the old pub Mr. Diggs works at!" She smiled as she watched the realization dawn on Fabala's face.

"Really?" she asked. When Nissa nodded, Fabala leaned across the table and hugged her half-sister fiercely. Nissa squealed; Aran chuckled.


	12. Mr Diggs Meets Miss Nissa's Bad Side

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry for not updating in a while. Anyway, this story is winding down – I'm thinking one more chapter – but if you would like me to continue and see Oz through it's healing period, then please tell me in your reviews, because I don't know exactly how a sequel to the sequel will go over. Also, if anyone would like to archive this story onto another fan fiction website, just ask me, and I'll be more than happy to give you permission. And the Lion's courage is from the _Wizard of Oz_ book, sorry if it confuses anyone.

Chapter Twelve: Mr. Diggs Meets Miss Nissa's Bad Side

_It was cold for all of four seconds. She counted herself. She heard someone shout, but pain was taking the place of the cold and the logic in her brain. And then she was falling; falling into that ice cold pain. _

She woke up gasping and clawing at the air, before she realized that there was nothing around her; that she wasn't drowning. She turned to look at her roomies, before rationalizing that since she knew from experience that her roomies could sleep through a twister and not even roll over.

Yawning, she closed her eyes, trying to calm her heart and nerves. Tomorrow afternoon, they confronted Diggs, and she put her extreme freak out to that. Satisfied that she wasn't just slowly going insane, she rolled onto her stomach, going to sleep.

_The small group on the platform stood around the woman. The blonde was giving instructions. "Remember, eye contact. And don't forget to tell him how wonderful he is, Wizard's love that! And be yourself...well...within reason."_

_The woman turned to the pretty girl in the chair. "I'm so proud of you, and I know father would be too. We're all proud, aren't we?"_

_The woman reached out for the girl's hand. "You'll be alright, won't you?"  
The blonde pulled the sisters apart, smiling. "She'll be fine! Biq will take care of her, right?"_

_The Munchkin looked worn. "It's Boq. I...I can't do this anymore." He said, before walking out determinedly._

_"Boq..." The girl called weakly, wheeling herself around._

_The blonde touched her arm. "Nessa...maybe he's just not the right one...for you." _

_The girl pulled away. "No, it's me that's not right. Elphaba, just go, I'll be fine."_

_The woman tried to follow, but the blonde stopped her. "Nessa, wait!" _

_"Let her go. She'll have to manage without you. We all will."_

_The woman laughed, but stopped trying to fight away from the girl. "Please, you'll barely notice I'm gone. Besides, you have Fiyero." She looked around the crowd. "Where is he, anyway? Not that I expected him to say goodbye to me. We barely know each other."_

_The blonde sniffed. "I don't know him either. He's distant, and modified, and he's been thinking which really worries me. I never knew how much he cared about that old goat." The aforementioned Winkie ran towards the two females, holding flowers. The blonde instantly brightened. "Oh, there he is! Fiyero, over here, dearest!"_

_He came over to them, holding the flowers out to the green woman. "Elphaba, I'm happy for you."_

_The blonde coiled her arm around his. "Yes, we're both so happy..."_

_The Winkie broke out of the hold. "Uh, listen...I've been thinking..."_

_The woman nodded. "Yes, I've heard."_

Fabala stretched as she walked outside. The sun was shining bright, and she had to shield her eyes to see. She was the last one in her room to wake up, and she was a little miffed that Nissa hadn't awoken her. Even the unceremonious pillow to the face would have been nicer than being left alone. She had her broom leisurely held behind her neck, her arms hanging on either end of it.

"You look like a Scarecrow." Nissa said as Fabala walked into the girls' breakfast room. Fabala made a face as she dumped the broom between an empty chair and Riley's.

"That hurts, Nissie." She said flatly, sitting down in the empty chair. She picked up a fork delicately, and poked the mushy excuse for a breakfast that Crage Hall was feeding its girls. "Riley, you're the food expert, what is this?"

Riley put her fork down and smiled lightly. "It's a lovely lumpy oatmeal made out of Bright Lettin's famous oat, exactly what the animals eat."

Nissa choked on her spoonful and pushed it away from her simultaneous with Fabala. "Thanks, I'll pass."

Riley shrugged. "Suit yourself."

She kept on eating. Fabala blanched, and covered her mouth.

"Why Miss Fabala, you're turning green!" Nissa cried. Many of the girls at the tables around them stopped to stare, and Riley snickered lightly. Fabala failed to see the humor in any of it, and pushed away from the table.

"I'll catch up with you guys a little later, okay?" She said as she picked up the broom and started out of the dining hall.

"Don't forget that you have to meet us at the pub!" Nissa called.

"I wouldn't forget about that!" Fabala called back, before hoisting the broom over her shoulders. She thought better of it, and dropped it into her left hand.

She walked across the bright grounds towards Briscoe Hall, not sure what she was looking for. She wondered if the boys were up yet, but highly doubted it. She looked around, thinking about sneaking into the library, but thought against it. She rummaged through her bag and found a small book she had found in Crage Hall's library. She sat down under a tree. Opening the book, she sighed as she started to read it.

_"Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost. Ay, me! How hard it is a thing to say what was this forest savage, rough, and stern, which in the very thought renews fear. So bitter is it, death is a little more; but of the good to treat, which there I found, speak will I of the other things I saw there."_

A dark shadow came over the book, and Fabala looked up, annoyed. "May I join you, Miss Thropp?" Sheika asked quietly. Fabala's mouth hung open, but she nodded mutely.

"Please, sit." She started to move, but let out a small whimper as her knee hitched under her. Sheika put a hand on her leg lightly, keeping her in place. He sat down slowly, and fixed his habit around him. He turned to her, sending her something akin to a smile.

"I'm fine, Miss Thropp, please don't move on my account." He said. She blinked, but said nothing, going back to the book.

_"I cannot well repeat how there I entered, so full was I of slumber at the moment in which I had abandoned the true way. But after I had reached a mountain's foot, at that point where the valley terminated, which had with consternation pierced my heart. Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulder, vested already with that planet's rays, which leadeth others right by every road." _

"Miss Thropp – Fabala – may I ask you something?"

Fabala looked up, slightly startled. She had forgotten that her kinsmen sat next to her. She turned to Sheika, who seemed to be studying her.

"Of course you can, Sheika." She said, placing a finger between the pages she was on before closing the book slowly.

He took a deep breath, eyes closing, before he turned to her. It was the first time she had realized he had light blue eyes; that she wasn't the only Winkie with eyes the color of sapphires. She smiled lightly at the thought, but frowned when she noticed his serious expression. "Will this do any good in the long run? What if Diggs isn't the Wizard, but just an old man who likes the students and tries to make small-talk? What if you're wrong and what we do has bad after-effects?"

Fabala considered the question, weighing her answer heavily. Finally, she drew in breath, looking squarely at Sheika, gaze hard. "What if I'm right? What if I'm wrong? We won't find out until we get to that pub, and either way, I'm in this until the very end, no matter how big the cost."

Sheika smiled at her lightly, a real honest-to-the-Unnamed-One smile, and stood, brushing off his robe. "I was hoping you would say that and not disappoint us, or yourself, Miss Fabala. It's getting late, though; nearly lunchtime, we should start heading over to the pub if we want to implement Destin's plan." He held out a hand, which she took as she stood.

They started walking together, but Fabala stopped. Sheika turned to her, a curious expression crossing his normally hardened features. "What's wrong, Miss Thropp?" he asked.

"I just thought of something I wanted to bring with me. Wait here, I'll be right back." Sheika nodded, allowing Fabala to leave. She ran to Crage Hall, slamming the door open to allow bright, cheery sunlight into the dismal female confines. She ran up the two flights of steps to her dormitory, and opened that door with the same flair as she had with the front door. Nearly embarrassed, she peered into the room, quite delighted to find that, as per the plan, it was devoid of any life.

She put down her broom and grabbed the little green bottle off of the shelf. She started to put it away, but her head snapped up, and sapphire eyes widened as she started to visually sweep the shelf for any trace of the Grimmerie. There was none.

"In all the hells..." she swore to herself, before storming out of the room and down the small slope to where Sheika was waiting. "Let's go, someone has the Grim...my spell book, and I don't want _him_ to get it."

Sheika turned to her, concerned, but nodded, and walked in silence with her down to the Nameless Pub. He regarded his silently brooding companion almost as if, by understanding her, he would come into some great, cosmic knowledge no one else knew. Sadly or perhaps for the good of the world, his pursuit of knowledge came up blank, and he sighed, shaking his head.

When they reached the pub, they came face-to-furry-face with Kade, who had his arms crossed and was glaring at them. "Nice of you to show up; Sheika, I'm disappointed in you."

"If my mother were alive, I'm sure she'd be too." Sheika said, before walking past Kade and into the pub, where he knew Noelani and Destin were already inside. Kade looked indecisive for a moment, before hastily running after his roommate.

"Hey! Wait for me! Sheika? SHEIKA!" The door slammed closed behind him, and the girls, along with Glinda and Aran, were left there. Aran looked at Riley, who was fixing her blue skirts. She looked up curiously.

"Why does that Animal wear so much blue?" she asked.

"He's from Stonespar End." Aran replied. Riley blinked up at him.

"But there aren't any Animal clans in..."

"No, his mother died, and his father is one of the Animals that disappeared in the Emerald City right after Glinda took charge; he was brought up by an old Munchkin." Aran explained.

Nissa nodded to herself. "That...really still doesn't explain a lot."

Aran chuckled. "I know, I though that growing up with an old guy for a father would make him a little more normal."

Fabala rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't you two be going in there and trying to end Animal-Human segregation." She asked.

Aran and Riley looked at each other, before nodding. Fabala watched the door swing on its hinges as they disappeared, before she turned to Nissa. "So, Nissa, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to my book of spells, would you."

Nissa blushed, and her eyes darted first to her mother, then to the ground. "I didn't want you to do anything rash, so I hid it..."

Fabala groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Where?" She demanded.

"It's under my bed, don't worry." Nissa sent her a large grin, realizing that her sister wasn't upset.

They waited in silence, but jumped when there was a clatter of noise and a yell of "Damn, stupid animal!"

"Oh...shit." Fabala whispered, not able to form something a little less vulgar. She flattened herself against the pub's outer wall, and motioned for Glinda and Nissa to do the same. The door swung open, and Kade came out, whistling. He ducked a speeding barstool, and turned back to see the irate Diggs coming out behind him, with the others following. His eyes darted to Fabala, and he allowed himself a barely noticeable nod that she reciprocated. She turned to the two blondes, and put a dark finger to her lips, motioning for them to be as quiet as possible.

"Can't you even read?" Diggs demanded, coming up to Kade. The little old man barely reached the Red Panda's chest, but he didn't seem to notice, nor did he notice the vegetarian's tail twitching madly, and not because out of self-consciousness. "Today is the only day we don't have to tolerate _your kind_ here, so move along, before I call Gale Forcers here."

Noelani moved between Diggs and Kade, realizing the early signs of a brawl easily. "Alright, alright; let's break it up, people. I'm sure Kade just didn't see the sign, I mean, he's not wearing his glasses," here, he motioned for Kade to take off said glasses. He responded quickly, before nodding, "and Animals have Life, too, can't we all just get..."

"Wait," Aran said, cutting Noelani off. Everyone turned to him, and he looked at Diggs hard. "You said something about the Gale Force?"  
"I...did?" Diggs asked, trying to play off the fudge.

"Yes, you did...but the Gale Force disbanded as the task force in Oz under the Wizard's rule."

"Unless, of course, you are the Wizard." Chirped Riley in such a way that it sounded almost improbable for Diggs to truly be the Wizard.

Diggs just stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, before he took something out of his breast pocket, and made to un-stopper it. It had barely reached his lips when Noelani grabbed it out of his hands, examining it. "I've never seen a bottle like this before." He said, examining the green glass. He squinted at the label, before laughing. "So, this is how the Lion got his courage? Liquor! That makes sense!" He sniffed it, and coughed. "Pretty strong liquor."

Destin, from his place slightly behind the rest of the group and next to Sheika, rolled his eyes. "You can't even hold your liquor; you shouldn't talk."

Noelani made a face, but held the bottle over Diggs' head, a pretty steep feet, considering the Munchkin was nearly a head shorter than the old man. "Hey girls, have you ever seen anything like this?"

"Why, yes, I think I have." Fabala said, peeling her body away from the wall. Diggs turned at the sound of her voice, paling considerably.

"I-I can explain everything..." he tried, watching as she took an identical bottle out of her bag.

"I'm sure you can, _sir_." Fabala said, glaring at him, "but I'd rather not hear your excuses, and I'm sure Miss Glinda does not want to hear them, either. Do you?" She turned to Glinda, who shook her head negatively. Diggs started to back away.

Nissa stood rooted to the spot, before pulling something out of the bushes next to her and, going to her knees, she opened the Grimmerie. Fabala saw the book, and turned to Nissa, perplexed.

"I thought that was in our room."  
"I'm sorry." She said, before opening the book to a random page. Closing her eyes and praying to the Unnamed One, she started to read the chant out loud. Fabala turned to Diggs, who was staring wildly at the book he had lost many years previous, before trying to flee.

His escape was cut short when he heard Nissa stop chanting. He turned slowly, almost triumphantly, before his body was surrounded in smoke. The teenagers around him moved back, and Fabala ran over to Aran, grabbing the boy instinctively and moving away from the smog and, what appeared to be, silty water.

Nissa stared, mouth agape, at the spot in the middle of her friends as the smoke cleared. She watched as Diggs' bug eyes slowly opened, and he let out a croak of disapproval.


	13. The Darkish Cloud Has Lifted

Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky  
  
Author: Aerohead  
  
Email: in my profile  
  
Website: In my profile  
  
Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.  
  
Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)  
  
Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.  
  
Author's Notes: This is the last chapter of OibLTibS. It's so sad! Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed, and because of feedback from friends also, there will be a third continuation of this story, however, it will not come out as fast as this has in the past. I would also like to add more Animal characters in the next part, so if you have any ideas as to a different type of creature (mammal, if you please), then please either email me or tell me in your review. Thank you so much!

Chapter Thirteen: The Darkish Cloud Has Lifted

It had been nearly two months since the incident with Diggs. The man – now, actually, a frog due to Nissa's misinterpretation of the spell she had read – had been taken by Glinda to the Emerald City, where his punishment had been decided upon. No one was actually quite sure what the punishment was, but it would not be dealt out until after Glinda had figured out a way to turn him back into a human, which was taking longer than anticipated because her spell expert had, reportedly, sent a letter saying that being turned into a frog was too good for Diggs, and she was not going to help Glinda with _that_.

The weather had turned cold, and the Lurlinemas decorations were beginning to be hung around Shiz, the green lights illuminating the grounds as the sun started to dip into the western sky earlier and earlier.

Term would be over soon. Only one more half-year, and then they would be sophomores. The idea seemed somewhat daunting, and for the most part, it was kept at the back of any topic brought up. Of course, half-term didn't come without its hardships, and one was Professor Timin's essay on segregation and why it was an important issue.

"'There is segregation in this school, and no one is aware of it. Men and women are kept in separate dormitories, eat separate meals, and study in separate libraries. The only coed interaction is during classes, when the males and females of our great learning facility must work on tests and papers such as this one, instead of getting to know one another. The women's learning facilities, such as Crage Hall's library, is shotty, and in great need of repair, though no one listens when the female students complain. For thirty years, this has been going on, and it must stop.' Well, does it sound a little too...preachy?"

She looked around at the blank stares she was receiving. They were in University Station, sipping tea and trying desperately to either find or refine their topics for History, but no one had expected _that._

Fabala stood slowly, leaning over to Nissa. "How in Oz did you manage to write that?" She asked.

Nissa shrugged, sitting down and blushing. "It was just something that was bothering me. Every time we want to study, we have to sneak into Briscoe Hall's library, and I'm sick of it."

Kade shook his head. "I never would have guessed...from an Upland?" Nissa kicked him under the table, and he smirked up at her. "Yes, Nissa, dear?" he asked.

She scowled at him. "What are you writing about?"

He blinked. "What do you think? I'm writing about the segregation between Animals and Humans in Oz. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm the only Animal student here, and I heard that in next year's batch of freshers they'll only be one or two Animals – one a girl, one a boy." Kade shrugged. "Possibly, at least. It's just so idiotic to have a segregation system when that segregation no longer exists; has been out of existence for nearly eighteen years!" Black paws flew into the air in his exasperation, and Fabala pet him on the back consolingly.

They were quiet, except for the sipping of tea. The small history group finally gave up nearly an hour and a half later, when Fabala shook her head. "I can't write anymore. If I do, this will turn into a glorified rant." Kade nodded his approval, and Nissa just shrugged; she had been done for the better part of the last half hour. Packing up their things, the trio started out of the small shop and into the train station, going to the quickest exit back to the University. The faux Time Dragon statue far off on Ozma Towers chimed seven at night, and Kade stopped short, making the girls walk into him. "Please, next time, give us at least a two second warning." Fabala groused, before pulling away from him.

He ignored her, and instead grabbed a copy of _The Ozmapolitan_, scanning the headline quickly, before passing it to Fabala. "I think you should read this."

"Why, it's not like...sweet Oz!" Fabala said, staring at the bold-faced headline.

Nissa, curious, stood on tiptoe to see over Fabala's shoulder. "What is it? It can't be anything terrible, can...it...?" She stopped short, staring open-mouthed at the newspaper.

**_Good Witch Denounces Wicked Witch Celebration_**

**By Hafwen Mahdis**

_In a shocking announcement this morning, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, fiancé of Lord Bromley of Dixi House, and currently a resident of both the Palace at the Emerald City (formerly the Wizard's Palace eighteen years previous) and Neverdale, has, for the first time in seventeen years, denounced the annual celebrations of the deaths of the Thropp sisters, commonly referred to as the Wicked Witches. It is a usually overlooked point that Glinda was childhood friends with Elphaba Thropp, the Witch of the West, and lost her first fiancée, Fiyero Tigalaar, to her. While the announcement comes as a shock, Miss Dorothy Gale, the woman who, as a child defeated both Witches, has stated that (con't pg. 10)_

The three looked at each other, before almost simultaneously grabbing for the newspaper and flipping to page ten.

"Where is it...where is it...ha!" Fabala pointed to the rest of the article, next to a snapshot of Glinda standing proudly on a balcony in the Palace overlooking the central hub of the Emerald City.

**_Wickedness Celebration not Condoned by Glinda _(con't from pg. 1)**

_..."Although Glinda has gone through a change of heart, the rest of Oz knows how wicked these women were, and although I, unlike Glinda, did not know them personally, I would not want to stop the festivities because someone so terrible used to be my friend. People change, and not always for the better." Glinda explained in her speech this morning that she 'wants to make Oz a more understanding place' and because of 'unexpected events that have recently occurred' she wants to stop the 'hate ritual' that goes on within our society once a year. Ozma, our princess, seems to agree with her, as does the Tinman, who initially started the uprising against the Wicked Witch of the West years ago. Glinda, now forty-seven, says that she has seen the error in her not stopping the celebration seventeen years ago, and wishes Elphaba were alive for her to apologize. _

"Go, Mom." Nissa muttered as Fabala refolded the paper, placing it inside of her history book.

"My thoughts, exactly, except for the 'mom' part." Kade said, as they started back up toward Shiz. Fabala shook her head.

"We fix one problem in Oz, and the rest goes to pieces." She said quietly. She turned to Nissa, and pulled the girl back.

"Fabi! What?" Nissa cried. Kade turned, but Fabala shook her head quickly, and he nodded, before trotting along in front of them. Fabala put a finger to her mouth to indicate Nissa to be quiet, and the girl acquiesced, but not without a small pout.

"Listen, Nissa..." She started, at a loss for words. Nissa looked at her skeptically.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Uh...Nissa, would you like to stay at Kiamo Ko with Aran and myself over the summer holidays? With the renegade actions your mother is taking, I have a feeling she will be indisposed, and there's always room in that drafty old castle."

Nissa put a hand over Fabala's mouth to make her stop rambling. Fabala blinked, before scowling at her, and Nissa had to keep herself from laughing, before she nodded. "I'd love to." She said.


End file.
